The City of Montreal is moving forward with the construction of modular housing units for the homeless as part of the forthcoming Namur-Hippodrome district in Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and in the Louvain-West area in Ahuntsic-Cartierville. The construction of the two buildings, which will temporarily house a total of 60 people as they await more permanent housing solutions, is expected to be completed by the spring. The developments themselves are temporary, and will “give way to residential projects, including off-market housing.”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante described these innovative modular developments as “unprecedented efforts” on the part of the city to provide a “dignified and safe” housing solution for the homeless. Plante also noted that the issue of homelessness represents a “collective failure” and that the province needs to step in to ensure people’s safety this winter.

“The vulnerability crisis affecting Montreal and all of Quebec is a collective failure that requires leadership at all levels. In the short term, a plan from the Quebec government remains essential to quickly deploy additional measures dedicated to mental health and addiction care, offer more emergency shelter spaces and accelerate social housing units. Our administration will not give up and we are reaching out to the government and all our partners to ensure that everyone is warm during the winter.”

When a call for tenders was put out for this pilot project in August, the city’s executive committee member responsible for the homelessness file, Robert Beaudry, told La Presse that each building would feature common areas as well as 30 separate rooms with toilets and showers. He added that a community organization (TBD) would be present to assist residents in need of specialized services.