Montreal’s Rapid Entry to Housing program preventing homelessness

A Montreal-based program known as Rapid Entry to Housing, launched by Welcome Hall Mission, is helping Canadians before they become unhoused.

The charity has housed 344 people since 2021, at a cost of roughly $11,000 per person — with an estimated 84 per cent of those continuing to benefit from the program.

Welcome Hall Mission CEO Samuel Watts says the program is focused on helping those from all backgrounds afford housing in their communities.

“What we were able to do was rehouse people quickly, and then prevent them from becoming chronic,” Watts told CityNews. “The longer someone stays in homelessness, the more difficult it is to help them get back into housing.”

Watts says rising homelessness often leads to greater government funding for emergency services, which he says just acts as a band-aid for the situation.

“The cost of rehousing someone who just falls into homelessness is much lower than the cost of maintaining them in homelessness,” Watts said. “For $10,000 or $11,000, we’re able to get somebody back into housing. And when somebody’s back into housing, they become a productive member of society.

“And so they cease not only costing the system money for emergency services and policing services and everything else that goes with people who are on the street. And so it also becomes an opportunity for them to contribute in many cases get a job.”

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With roughly 190 landlord and housing partners, Welcome Hall Mission not only finds immediate housing for those in need, but communities where Montrealers can stay long-term.

“That ultimately is one of the magic bullets of homelessness prevention is ensuring that people are connected because social disconnection is often the primary cause,” Watts said.

“We’ve got to stop creating situations that cause people to become homeless in the first place. So it’s like turning off the tap. If we can turn off the tap or at least reduce the flow of the water, then the sink won’t be overflowing.”

According to Statistics Canada, nearly 1.5 million Canadian households in 2021 lived in “core housing need” — which they defined as living in an unsuitable, inadequate or unaffordable dwelling — and unable to afford housing in their community.