Since the start of the pandemic, stakeholders have noted a major increase in the number of homeless people, including those living on the streets. The business community wants to mobilize to reduce and end street homelessness.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Before the health crisis, the situation was already particularly difficult in the Greater Montreal region, where most street homelessness in Quebec is concentrated. According to the count of people experiencing homelessness on the island of Montreal carried out in 2018, there were 678 people living on the streets, or 269 people more than in 2015. The pandemic and the health measures put in place for two years have had a very negative impact on people experiencing homelessness, and these figures are probably underestimated.
The city’s business community is concerned about people who are homeless on the street. They are extremely vulnerable individuals, who live in more than precarious conditions and who are marginalized by society. These people who literally live on the street are very little inclined to use the resources available in homelessness such as emergency accommodation.
It is with the desire to act together in favor of specific measures for people experiencing street homelessness that we have united to form the Business Coalition to End Street Homelessness (CAMFIR). .
48.6 million over four years
Our coalition is requesting the allocation of additional funding of $48.6 million for the period from 2023 to 2026 to help 1,500 homeless people on the streets. With the Interdepartmental Homelessness Action Plan 2021-2026 (PAII), public decision-makers have already shown that they are sensitive to the issue of homelessness.
However, the measures proposed in the PAII do not target street homeless people. We are firmly convinced that the allocation of funds specifically targeting these people is essential as part of a comprehensive approach.
Let’s be clear, it is not a question of reducing public support accompanying other forms of homelessness, but of drawing inspiration from science to meet the needs of this particular clientele.
This investment must support targeted projects of the residential stability type with support. These have proven their effectiveness when they have been deployed thanks to housing offers that meet people’s needs and choices. The projects ensure real follow-up of beneficiaries and synergy between public establishments, homeless organizations and NPOs. This approach is based on the “Housing First” model, which has already proven its effectiveness in places like Toronto, Calgary, Finland, Norway and France.
Above all, these projects allow a social reaffiliation of people experiencing street homelessness and a sense of belonging to the community.
We consider it of the first importance to add measures that rely on the expertise of specialists in the area to solve street homelessness.
We also recommend that the government designate a public body capable of planning and coordinating newly funded targeted residential stability projects with support. For Montreal, the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, because of its regional homelessness mandate, seems to us to be the ideal body.
The collaboration and involvement of community players and the Quebec government are essential. There is an emergency, and the business community, through CAMFIR, wishes to provide all the support necessary to help people experiencing homelessness.1. The government must rise to the challenge and show ambition and determination to put an end to street homelessness in Quebec.
An inclusive, harmonious recovery with a social and community impact is at the heart of the concerns and priorities of the business community. It is, precisely, everyone’s business.
* Co-signers: Linda CarboneExecutive Director of BOMA Quebec; Glenn Castanheirageneral manager of Montreal centre-ville; Murielle KwendeGeneral Manager of the Housing Development Consulting Group (CDH Group) and Yves LalumierePresident and CEO of Tourisme Montréal