Montreal cracking down on loitering in metro stations by the city’s homeless population

Faced with increasing homelessness, many of Montreal’s metro stations have become makeshift shelters for those looking to escape from the cold.

But the explosion of homelessness has also contributed to a rise in acts of violence perpetrated mainly by homeless people and individuals with mental health problems who spend hours or even the entire day sheltering in metro stations.

According to La Presse, on Thursday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, accompanied by representatives from the Montreal Police (SPVM) and Public Health, will be announcing a blitz of temporary safety measures aiming to crack down on loitering in metro stations and helping reduce increased feelings of insecurity among transit users.

According to a survey conducted by Montreal’s transport agency (STM), one in two passengers no longer feels safe in the metro.

“We needed to act and having those numbers but also wanted to do it right,” said Plante. “The situation is quite severe when you have the numbers where there’s one over two users of the STM network that says that they feel insecure.”

Measures implemented

Sleeping on metro platforms and benches will soon no longer be tolerated, and everyone will be asked to “keep moving.”

Special constables may force users to leave. Unlike previously, when security or metro police had to notice a problematic situation (smoking, drug use, urinating, etc.) to remove someone, that will no longer be required.

Metro officers will first explain the basic regulations, then check the person’s mental and physical state, offer resources as needed, and then use force to remove if required to. The new measures gives constables the leeway to act when necessary, ensuring that metros don’t de facto become refuges.

“It’s a very efficient quick tool for a very specific need to help us pass the rest of the winter,” said Éric Alan Caldwell, Chair, Board of Directors at STM.

“It will be do with a caring approach without judgement and we won’t use everywhere, anytime,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, Chief Executive Officer at STM.

Montreal is therefore following in the footsteps of other Canadian cities struggling with significant homelessness problems, such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa.

The announcement isn’t expected to be received well by the city’s organizations that help the homeless population.

Lots of metro space to be closed to the public

In addition to ensuring that people keep moving, the STM will close many common areas in the metro, La Presse has learned.

Among them is the mezzanine of the Place-des-Arts station, on the Green line, where many unhoused have been seen to use drugs. One of the two corridors and the bridges over the station will be blocked. Users will only have one corridor to circulate.

On the Orange line, fencing will be added to the mezzanine of Bonaventure station. Between 30 and 50 homeless people wander through this station daily, according to STM data.

Seven other stations will be “redeveloped” to reduce incivility, namely Côte-Vertu, Charlevoix, Peel, Place-d’Armes, Beaudry, D’Iberville and Pie-IX. Most of the time, partitions will be installed to reduce space in certain areas.

In the rest of the network, two metro exits, and two entrances where drug use and criminal gatherings have been observed will be closed: the De Bleury entrance building (Place-des-Arts station), the Beaver Hall entrance building (Square-Victoria–ICAO station), the Westmount Square exit from Atwater station, and the east exit from De Castelnau station, but starting at 10 p.m. only.

Temporary measures, added resources

For the moment, these measures are temporary and will end on April 30, but, if necessary, some could be renewed and become permanent.

The City of Montreal will also be announcing the extension of two warming stops until the end of winter and until it gets warmer.

These are the Lucien-Saulnier building in Old Montreal and the STM offices in Saint-Laurent. The two warming stops have been set up to reduce the pressure on the metro.

James Hughes, the president and CEO of Old Brewery Mission, says that evicting homeless people from Metro stations is the wrong first response, and adds that he is skeptical that there are enough resources to accommodate this population once they’re no longer welcome there.

“Where are they going to go? Old Brewery Mission is full,” said Hughes. “All the other sister organizations are full. We are just inviting the problem to be addressed elsewhere. So that’s the biggest issue. When are we going to get to coordinating and implementing a plan to do much better than we’re doing today?”

“Today we have an announcement that is more coercive,” said Benoit Langevin, Homelessness critic at Ensemble Montréal. “How come it’s not balanced with a preventive announcement? How come we’re not arriving here and arriving with a solution where we’re not just pushing people away?”

Commuters will also start noticing more patrol officers present in the metro system in the coming months. An increased presence has already been in place since February.

Police officers are on hand until 1 a.m. to help STM teams close and escort homeless people out.

“I feel like our approach, the approach of the STM to me is quite well balanced,” said Plante. “And we will monitor. That is so important to say.”

Last year, agents escorted 12,124 people outside when the metro stations closed, 2,000 more than the previous year.