Advocates say added shelter spaces ease pressure, but demand remains high

Advocates say hundreds of added shelter and warming-station spaces have helped this winter, but rising demand and limited daytime access remain challenges.

While demand for places to sleep is up, homeless advocates say the addition of more spaces in shelters and warming stations has eased pressure this winter.

“We’ve gone from 900 spaces (before the pandemic) in Montreal to more than 2,500, maybe as many as 3,000,” says Welcome Hall Mission’s Sam Watts. “The demand is up, it’s very clear, but we do have more spaces available to us this year.”

Earlier in December, the city announced the addition of 500 spaces for the homeless. The Old Brewery Mission runs a shuttle service to find people a spot for the night.

“It has been easier to place people this year than last year and that’s largely because of the addition of the 500 new places,” says James Hughes.

While advocates applaud the addition, they add it isn’t a perfect measure.

“Those spaces are often suboptimal,” says Watts. “They’re chairs in corners of rooms or cots in the basement of churches.”

Hughes adds the hours often don’t correspond to the daily needs of people who live on the streets.

“We would like more services to be 24/7,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of the services in the evening and overnight only. We need to stretch that out so people have the capacity to get inside during the day.”

In early December, a man died in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie when the tent he was in caught on fire. Police believe he was trying to stay warm.

Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts overnight lows at –10 C with freezing rain overnight and a dip to –17 C by Wednesday.

Advocates add the extra space is favourable, but it doesn’t mean demand has abated.

“We have a little bit of oxygen that we’ve not seen in previous years, and that’s very welcome,” says Hughes.