Autonomy and stability: New social housing in Montreal for men facing homelessness

New social housing development opens A new social housing development has opened near downtown Montreal.

There's a new social housing development in downtown Montreal, with over 50 bachelor apartments reserved for men facing housing insecurity or homelessness.

Resident Nicolas Rivard-Lamy moved into his unit on Dec. 21.

"It's huge for autonomy, for stability. It's huge. It's really huge," he told CTV News while giving a tour of his new apartment.

The Pavillon Robert-Lemaire contains 54 units in total. Rent will remain at 25 per cent of a resident's salary, and the building is managed by social service organization Maison du Père.

"Those projects need to be accompanied by services and organizations like La Maison du Père, and all of the others will tell you that small is beautiful when it comes to the social housing," said federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeaut at a press conference in Montreal Friday.

Lizette Flores of the Maison du Père says the goal is to help residents live independently while also providing support when needed.

"They have the abilities and capacities to be living autonomously, but we also have one person that's going to be there to help them and to lend them a hand," she explained.

With affordable housing becoming increasingly difficult to find, Ottawa says more social housing is needed.

"Is there enough? Clearly, no. We need to more, and we want to do more," said Guilbeault.

With a place he can call home, Rivard-Lamy already has his next steps planned out.

"I have two objectives for now: to continue volunteering at Maison du Père, and to stay here," he said.

He'll have some new neighbours very soon, as all the units are expected to be filled in less than two weeks.