Homeless count: Quebec government expects increase

The Legault government is expecting another increase in the number of those who are visibly homeless in Quebec.

The next count will take place on April 15, and the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, said on Wednesday that “we have to be realistic.”

He was answering questions from the new PQ MNA for Terrebonne, Catherine Gentilcore, who was sworn in on Tuesday, a week after being elected in a byelection.

At the last count on October 11, 2022, no fewer than 10,000 people were counted as homeless that night, a 44 per cent jump in five years.

Asked in parliamentary committee whether he was setting a quantifiable target for reducing homelessness in the context of the next count in April, the Minister admitted that the current situation was difficult.

“I don’t think we can talk about reduction now, we all see what’s happening on the street,” he replied.

Carmant has given himself two more years to “flatten the curve, reverse the trend” and reduce the number of homeless people.

He added that he was working on a number of preventive measures to prevent vulnerable people from ending up on the streets and swelling the ranks of the homeless.

Gentilcore deplored the fact that Tuesday’s budget contained no additional investments in housing.

The Minister pointed out that no fewer than 500 units had been announced a few months ago, and that 200 should be delivered over the next year.

The Parti Québécois (PQ) and, in particular, Quebec City mayor Bruno Marchand, advocate “zero homelessness,” a goal set by Finland 20 years ago: this Nordic country has practically succeeded in eliminating this social problem by offering better support and building a large number of housing units specially adapted for this clientele.

The Legault government has always rejected this solution. Carmant had previously suggested that eliminating homelessness would be unfeasible, since some people choose this “way of life.”

Instead, he had suggested that he wanted to break the trend, stem the “explosion of post-pandemic homelessness,” as well as “work more on prevention.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews