As Montreal homeless encampments grow, documents reveal patchwork response
CBC
Homeless encampments have become increasingly common in Montreal over the past five years, leading authorities to adopt a patchwork of approaches to monitor and address the problem, documents reveal.
Records obtained by CBC News under access-to-information legislation show a sharp rise in encampments since the pandemic, both downtown and in outlying boroughs.
Advocates argue the city needs a more coherent strategy to support those living on the streets and help them find housing.
"We have to do better than we're doing right now," said James Hughes, CEO and president of the Old Brewery Mission, Montreal's largest homeless shelter.
"The amount of police and borough resources being used to enforce existing bylaws, with no net positive results, is a huge expenditure. We can use those resources much better if we update and modernize the way we address this new social phenomenon."
CBC News requested a record of encampments from all of the city's boroughs between the start of 2020 and Nov. 1, 2024. Twelve of the 19 boroughs responded by deadline normally required under access-to-information rules.
The incomplete records make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the total number of encampments and how many have been dismantled. However, they suggest discrepancies in how boroughs are responding to the problem.
Encampments in some neighbourhoods were quickly removed, according to the documents, while others were subject to dozens of visits by police, social workers and city employees over the course of several months.
Earlier this week, employees from Quebec's Transport Ministry dismantled sections of a homeless encampment on provincially owned land east of the downtown core.
One man, whom CBC News agreed not to name because he worries for his safety and privacy, said it was his fifth time being forced to move since 2020.
"I knew it was coming, but it's still awful," he said, with tears in his eyes, as workers dressed in hazmat suits cleared away his belongings. Police in riot gear stood watch.
Jennifer Fakhouri, co-ordinator at the nearby CAP St-Barnabé shelter, criticized the city for not coming up with a plan before clearing the encampment. The 170-bed shelter was full when the encampment was cleared.
"At least try to find the human decency to try to find them a place to go, or at least offer some sort of a temporary solution," she said.
Hughes said the city needs a more deliberate strategy to address the homelessness crisis, rather than leaving it up to boroughs to enforce bylaws such as trespassing and loitering.
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Homeless encampments have become increasingly common in Montreal over the past five years, leading authorities to adopt a patchwork of approaches to monitor and address the problem, documents reveal.
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