Ricochet homeless shelter searches for permanent home in Montreal’s West Island

Ricochet, a homeless shelter in Montreal's West Island, hopes to secure a permanent location.

The Ricochet Centre has been helping those in need since 2017, but it’s been an ongoing battle for the shelter to find a permanent home in Montreal’s West Island.

“Since 2022, we were at Chateau Pierrefonds, [which] the CIUSSS was lending us,” Ricochet spokesperson Sarah-Jane Boivin explained. “Unfortunately, in May 2024, we were evicted because the CIUSSS needed the place back.”

Ricochet then relocated to its current location in an old Jesuit centre on Gouin Boulevard Ouest in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough.

After renting for 15 months, Boivin says they’re ready to buy the property.

“We wanted a place where the residents would have the time to breathe, to take a step back, and also, it’s big enough to be able to welcome our beneficiaries,” Boivin said.

Sandra Lovegrove, one of the centre’s beneficiaries, explains she was laid off post-pandemic after 11 years working as a transportation broker.

“I lost my job and couldn’t get another job. I was getting a lot of interviews, but I wasn’t getting the jobs, and then the rent went up, and then I couldn’t pay the rent,” Lovegrove told CTV News.

She eventually ended up at Ricochet.

“There is a need, and you never know who is going to end up homeless,” she added.

While the team says it is glad to have a peaceful place in Pierrefonds-Roxboro to help residents get back on their feet, some in the area say the location isn’t ideal.

An online petition for safe coexistence between Ricochet and the surrounding neighbourhoods had more than 620 signatures as of Sunday.

Harry Dikranian is one of the people who support the petition.

“What’s happening is that you’ve got people walking by some 11 schools that are in the area,” he explained. “There are six kindergartens, five schools.”

Dikranian agrees that there’s a need for Ricochet, but says he’s concerned about children’s safety.

He says a shelter closer to a strip mall might stop those experiencing homelessness from walking by parks.

Still, city councillor Benoit Langevin insists that Ricochet is not the issue.

“It’s a solution to a worst-case scenario, which would be to have encampments near one of our 26 schools,” he said. “One of the most concentrated numbers of daycares in Montreal is in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, but we’ve got to make sure that the cohabitation is realistic.”

Meanwhile, Ricochet hopes to secure its current home for the long term.