In Montreal, more than a thousand volunteers are roaming the streets this week to meet people “in a situation of homelessness”, those who are referred to in France by the term “homeless”. The purpose of this campaign, which takes place every four years in Quebec, is to assess their number. This is called the national count. And the observation in Montreal is the same as everywhere else in the country: the number of homeless people has increased since the Covid. The associations estimate that it has practically doubled in Montreal with now nearly 6,000 homeless people and the Aboriginal population is overrepresented.
But the support structures have also evolved: last year, two long-term reception centers opened, representing nearly 300 beds, with an on-site housing assistance service. “The goal is to help people find permanent housing because emergency shelters should be a temporary placeexplains Samuel Watts, the director of the association Mission bon accueil. We plan to build a system where people who find themselves in precariousness will be met, heard and we will be able to know the real needs.
And the Quebec winter shouldn’t help matters. It is coming soon, at the end of the month, according to forecasts. For six months, the temperatures will often remain negative, down to minus 30 degrees Celsius in Montreal. Homeless people are no longer accompanied at this time since the Covid. Before, there were more places in refuges in winter than in summer. But the pandemic has shown that homelessness has no season. So the associations convinced the government to stabilize services and resources all year round.
Unfortunately not everyone has access to it. franceinfo met this 59-year-old man, for example, who has lived on the street for ten years. Every winter it’s the same fight, he says, trying to find a roof. “We find pads in the winter, very modest apartments around 25 [dollars canadiens]. But it’s hard to find.”
“You have to go to the countryside, very far. And often, you have to finish the apartment, have to lay the floor etc.”
A 59-year-old homeless manat franceinfo
The last time he found a “peep”, it was two years ago. Because a housing crisis has been added to the Covid crisis and to winter. Almost all dwellings are occupied in Montreal and those that are not are too expensive: an average monthly rent is now estimated at more than 1 000 euros.