Quebec Solidaire is calling for 500 emergency shelters for Montreal homeless people

A homeless encampment of tents are seen near the highway in the west end of Montreal on Tuesday, Dec.10, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

Quebec Solidaire (QS) is calling on the government to open 500 additional emergency shelters for homeless people.

QS spokesperson on homelessness, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, made the request on Sunday in light of the early onset of winter this week.

He said that Montreal shelters have already turned away hundreds of people in recent days due to a lack of space.

“We’re lucky, in quotation marks, that it’s 0 or -2, but when it gets to -20, it’s going to be a different story. We absolutely must avoid people being turned away, being told no for a warm place to stay this winter,” he explained in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Cliche-Rivard points out that, according to the coroner’s office, 108 people lost their lives while homeless last year.

While the community sector generally provides emergency beds, QS believes that the government itself must open its emergency shelters, rather than relying solely on funding for organizations.

“We have seen that the government has already mobilized when there have been other humanitarian crises. We can think of the pandemic, for example, when emergency vaccination centres were opened throughout Quebec,” said Cliche-Rivard.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.

While homelessness is a growing problem across the province, the Solidaire request specifically concerns the metropolis.

“We have more accurate data on Montreal, so it was easier to quantify,” said the Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne MNA.

He explained that the figure of 500 places was based on the latest census. If 2,000 beds were available, approximately 900 people would have no place to sleep and would have to sleep outside.

‘Since then, the number of places has increased slightly in the community network, but not enough to fill the gap," leading to the calculation that there would be a shortage of about 500 places, explains the Solidaire member.

Cliche-Rivard highlighted, among other things, the needs in Quebec City, Chicoutimi, Rouyn-Noranda and Gaspé, in addition to certain villages. He said he hopes that each city will find solutions with public health authorities.

As for Montreal, the QS MNA believes it is important to open shelters in neighbourhoods that are currently underserved. While there are many services in Hochelaga, Centre-Sud and Sud-Ouest, he criticized the fact that there are no shelters in the neighbourhoods further north on the island.

By distributing resources, Cliche-Rivard believes that southern neighbourhoods will be less solicited, allowing for “greater social cohesion and cohabitation that works.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 16, 2025.