A shelter for homeless Indigenous people has just purchased two buildings on Sherbrooke Street and is expected to move there at the end of 2027.
Quebec Native Project (PAQ) currently operates a resource with around fifty spaces near the intersection of Saint-Dominique and Ontario, in the city center. However, it is installed in a private building, the former Hôtel des arts, whose owner can renew or interrupt the lease as he wishes.
“Located nearby, this facility will continue to combat homelessness in the Milton-Parc region, providing emergency accommodation for up to 50 Indigenous men and women, as well as 24-hour intervention services “, declared Stacy Boucher-Anthony, general director of Projets indigenous du Québec. This shelter accepts all homeless Indigenous people, including those who are intoxicated.
The acquisition and transformation project is supported by Ottawa ($7.7 million), Quebec ($6.5 million), as well as the Makivik Corporation ($650,000), which represents the interests of the Inuit. In addition to the 14 villages of Nunavik, “we have another community here,” recognized Joey Partridge, from Makivik.
The planned inauguration date of the shelter, which will be located at 65 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, has been established for December 2027, indicated Mme Boucher-Anthony, citing the complexity of merging two century-old buildings. PAQ said it hopes that the work and obtaining permits will be accelerated, bringing the opening date several months closer. In the meantime, the Hôtel des arts refuge remains at the mercy of the building’s owner.
“We are working on that. We don’t want there to be any interruption of service,” said Minister of Indigenous Affairs Ian Lafrenière. “Currently, we are in a situation where everyone is dependent on someone’s desire to rent or not. We can’t continue like this. »
Mayor Plante affirmed that the City of Montreal was doing what was necessary to inform neighbors of this future shelter and reassure them. “What I hear, from the district council or the city council, is that it doesn’t make sense for there to be people living in the street, that it doesn’t make sense It makes sense that there are people who end up sleeping under a tarp or overdosing in an alley, she said. That’s what I hear. »