Quebec to unlock emergency homelessness funds on Friday

Quebec’s new Parti Québécois government is expected to unlock emergency funds for homelessness groups and resources on Friday, its first major announcement since it formed a minority government, CBC News and La Presse reported.

The announcement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET at Accueil Bonneau, a Montreal shelter and advocacy group for people without housing. Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who named himself the minister responsible for the file, is to appear with Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada and two of his ministers, Stéphane Paquet and Camille Pellerin-Forget.

The amount had not been made public as of Friday morning. Paquet holds the economy portfolio, while Pellerin-Forget is the minister delegated to mental health and social services.

St-Pierre Plamondon convened his ministers after Wednesday’s swearing-in to release the money, CBC reported. “Winter is fast approaching. We need to be ready,” he wrote in a social media post on Thursday.

The move came days after news of the death of a 66-year-old woman in Sorel-Tracy, Que., who had recently become homeless. The premier said in another post that her death “could have been avoided if the available resources matched the scale of the problem” (translated from French).

The PQ campaigned on a promise to cut homelessness in half by the end of its term in 2030. The Health Ministry’s latest figures, published in April, counted 12,077 visibly homeless people across 15 regions, up an average of 20 per cent from 2022 to 2025, or 1,873 more people.

Martinez Ferrada said she was pleased the province and the city share the priority. Earlier this month she announced nine warming centres across seven boroughs, but said they need long-term provincial funding to stay open around the clock. She estimated the cost at $20 million a year for as long as transitional housing is not built.

The government was sworn in on Oct. 21 after an election that left the party with 59 seats, short of a majority. Homelessness was one of the priorities flagged in our look at the PQ’s first 100 days.

This story is developing and will be updated with the announced amount and details.

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