The Quebec government announced Friday it will allocate $28 million in emergency funds to support organizations and resources fighting homelessness across the province. Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon made the announcement at Accueil Bonneau in Montreal, a shelter and organization supporting people experiencing homelessness. It’s the first major announcement since the Parti Québécois formed a minority government on Oct. 5. “The face of homelessness has changed. It now affects everyone and every region of Quebec. We are facing a complex problem that will require action in several areas and a collective effort,” said St-Pierre Plamondon. The funding will add more than 1,000 emergency beds in warming centers and in emergency and transitional housing over the next five months. The announcement comes after Les 2 Rives local newspaper reported the death of a recently unhoused woman, 66, in Sorel-Tracy, Que. According to the newspaper, she was found unconscious in the washroom of a ferry terminal at the beginning of October. St-Pierre Plamondon extended his condolences on social media and at the announcement, adding that her death was preventable. “Another person experiencing homelessness has died shortly after becoming homeless,” said St-Pierre Plamondon. “I wish to extend my condolences to her family and loved ones. This death could have been prevented if the available resources had been commensurate with the scale of the problem we’re facing.” Montreal most affected by crisis Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister responsible for the Metropolis, Stéphane Paquet, and the minister delegate for Mental Health and Social Services, Camille Pellerin-Forget, joined St-Pierre Plamondon at the announcement. A minimum of $18 million of the total allocation will be given to the City of Montreal, the region most affected by the homelessness crisis in the province. “We have a premier dedicated to the homeless crisis that we are living with, and that political posture is a huge difference, and it gives us a lot of hope that we are in a real change in posture,” Martinez Ferrada said. In October, two other people experiencing homelessness died in Quebec. A woman in her 50s died in a fire at a homeless encampment in Montreal North, and a 59-year-old man was found unconscious behind a building in Granby, where he later died in hospital. A few weeks earlier, a baby was found in a homeless encampment in Montreal’s Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough. The baby was taken into the care of Quebec youth protection officials. Following the deaths, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada unveiled the city’s plans to help fight homelessness. The plan includes nearly 3,000 spots in warming centres and emergency shelters available 24/7. St-Pierre Plamondon promised more solutions at a major summit on homelessness that he plans to hold at the beginning of 2027. During the election campaign, he pledged to invest $1 billion to combat homelessness in the province, aiming to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness in Quebec by half by 2030.
