This text is part of the special edition Pride Montreal
Asylum seekers have repeatedly made headlines in recent years. But beyond the war of numbers that Quebec and Ottawa are waging on this subject, there are humans who are trying to build a new life for themselves. And among them, LGBTQ+ people, whose journey can be even more unique. It is to support them that the Montreal LGBTQ+ Community Centre has set up its program The LGBTQ Compass.
“The goal is to improve their quality of life, but above all to allow them to develop a community and emancipation,” explains Josu Otaegi Alcaide, member of the Montreal LGBTQ+ Community Center (CCLGBTQ+).
Born in 2019, the Boussole program, supported by the Chambre des notaires du Québec, offers a range of services to migrants and asylum seekers established in Quebec. People registered in this program are invited to participate in sociocultural workshops and discussion groups, as well as training in labor law and housing law, in addition to employability workshops.
The Center also offers workshops to learn how to fill out your tax return or to understand the asylum application, in collaboration with other organizations. “When we can, we offer spaces for droppingwhere people can come and ask us questions and we try to answer them,” adds Josu Otaegi Alcaide.
Better targeted services
Of course, each asylum application is unique, depending on the history and experiences of the person leaving their country of origin. But there are still specificities regarding LGBTQ+ people. There is also a special section in the law on this subject.
And when it comes to finding employment and housing, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity still exists in Quebec in 2024, Josu Otaegi Alcaide sadly notes.
“In our workshops, we explain what the rights of LGBTQ+ people are, and we realize that there is a big lack of information on this subject,” says Josu Otaegi Alcaide. “So we give the participants tools for this purpose.”
An entry point
The Centre and the Compass program are also an entry point for newcomers to the LGBTQ+ community. “People ask us a lot of questions about what activities they can participate in, they don’t know how to connect with the community,” says Josu Otaegi Alcaide, who adds that the first few times someone comes to the Centre, they may not speak… but being out of their home is a first step towards their emancipation.
“There are a lot of people who have made groups of friends among themselves! They end up not coming to the Center anymore, because they already have their group of friends… And sometimes, we meet them again!”
An explosion in membership numbers
CCLGBTQ+ employees cannot provide legal advice, since they are not lawyers. And since there are only three of them at the moment, they cannot meet the demand, laments Josu Otaegi Alcaide, who specifies that the CCLGBTQ+ has experienced an explosion of cases since 2023, coinciding with the massive arrival of asylum seekers in Canada and Quebec (144,040 asylum applications in Canada in 2023, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). At the moment, the Centre helps more than 2,200 people, more than 90% of whom are asylum seekers. In 2022-2023, the organization had approximately 800 members.
“At the moment, we are feeling the limits of our resources,” laments Josu Otaegi Alcaide. “We are not able to provide services to all the people who come to the Center.”
“Before, we did individual interventions, but we had to stop doing them, because it was too much, the employees couldn’t do it,” laments Josu Otaegi Alcaide. “We offered three interventions: one upon arrival, one before the asylum hearing and one after the hearing. And that had to be abandoned. So the challenge will be to find more resources. We need them.”
Fortunately, the participation of members still gives rise to great initiatives, such as the “ barbershop ” Members who were having difficulty finding employment decided to use their free time to cut the hair of other members who had recently arrived in the country.
“There are a lot of people who are on welfare, it’s hard to get into the workforce at first, and this initiative has allowed members to get involved in their own community,” continues Josu Otaegi Alcaide. “And that’s really the essence of our approach: that the services don’t just come from the Centre, but that the community itself gives back to the community.”
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.