People living on Montreal streets dying in greater numbers

People who live on the streets of Montreal are dying in greater numbers.

The coroner says the number of deaths in the past few years has spiked and with winter coming, advocates are very concerned.

Alone — and in the cold — 62-year-old Nelson Ouellette died earlier this week on a sidewalk in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. He’s part of a growing number of homeless people dying on the streets, according to David Chapman, the executive director of Resilience Montreal, a community organization that supports people who are homeless.

"The goal is often to not be seen, and not be moved. The problem with that is when you’re alone and hiding. There’s a higher probability of an early death," he said.

In 2023, the Quebec coroner’s office investigated 72 deaths of people who were homeless — a significant increase from 2019 to 2021 when, on average, 20 people died on the streets each year.

The numbers may be even higher because the coroner only investigates deaths that occur under violent or obscure circumstances.

"A number of the names that we recently did a memorial for did not appear in the list of names that the province had produced," Chapman said.

Québec solidaire (QS) says things need to change.

"We want to make sure to have access, that those people have access to resources all the time, 24/7 in their proper area," said the QS social services critic, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.

A spokesperson for the City of Montreal declined an interview on Thursday, but told CTV News that Oulette’s death is a wake-up call and that a meeting will be held soon with Quebec's social services minister, Lionel Carmant.

The spokesperson didn’t respond to questions about who will attend the meeting or what solutions the city will propose.