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 to the family and said the death was preventable. “That is why our government’s first announcement will take place as early as tomorrow, with significant emergency funding for organizations and resources for people experiencing homelessness. This budget was authorized by the Cabinet last night, just a few hours after the government’s swearing-in. We must move quickly, and that’s the directive I’ve given to the government apparatus,” St-Pierre Plamondon wrote. “Winter is coming, and we need to take immediate action to prepare for the first frosts. We must act on what we can do as quickly as possible. We must not lose sight of the fact that more structural solutions will need to be implemented.” St-Pierre Plamondon promised more solutions at a major summit on homelessness, which the Parti Québécois (PQ) says it plans to hold at the beginning of 2027. During the 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. 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.
