(Montreal) Quebec is experiencing a marked increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness and the lack of housing is contributing to this. Faced with the glaring issues related to homelessness, Québec solidaire (QS) is asking the Legault government to present a joint strategy on homelessness and housing for 2024.
In a statement released Sunday morning, QS said resources cannot afford to solve the homelessness crisis alone. He emphasizes that we see camps almost everywhere in Quebec and that there is a lack of space in shelters.
The training reports camps in cities such as Joliette, Drummondville, Granby, Trois-Rivières, Rouyn-Noranda and Saint-Georges.
The MP for Taschereau, Etienne Grandmont, maintains that the increase in the number of homeless people is directly linked to the housing crisis, which the Coalition Avenir Québec has allowed to worsen, according to him.
He therefore asks the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, and the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmantde, to remedy the situation by presenting a joint action strategy on homelessness and housing.
According to the most recent data from the Department of Health and Social Services on homelessness, the number of visible homeless people – the most well-known form of homelessness which represents people living on the streets or in shelters – went from 5,789 in 2018 for all of Quebec to 10,000 people as of October 2023.
In its 2022 report entitled “Homelessness in Quebec – second portrait”, the Ministry of Health and Social Services recognizes that there is a link between the housing crisis and homelessness.
“The issues linked to the commodification of housing and real estate speculation, which reduce the availability of affordable housing, waiting lists for social and affordable housing, pressing housing needs, the rate of effort [part du revenu] spent on paying rent and evictions can be considered determinants of homelessness,” we read in the report.