National conference on ending homelessness kicks off in Montreal, as mayoral candidate pledges new action
Posted October 28, 2025 5:27 pm.
Last Updated October 28, 2025 5:28 pm.
As hundreds of experts, community leaders and advocates gather in Montreal this week for the National Conference on Ending Homelessness, the city’s homelessness crisis — and the urgent need for action — are taking centre stage both inside and outside the Palais des congrès.
The conference, organized by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH), runs until Thursday and brings together front-line workers, researchers, policy-makers, and people with lived experience to share solutions, strengthen community networks, and find tangible ways to prevent and reduce homelessness nationwide.
“Homelessness is a daily reality both in and around the Palais des congrès,” said Emmanuelle Legault, president and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal. “Offering our spaces for free for this conference is a concrete way of participating in finding solutions and contributing to a vital dialogue for Montréal. Our responsibility extends beyond our four walls.”
CAEH says communities across Canada are increasingly overwhelmed as they grapple with rising homelessness, driven in large part by an intensifying housing crisis that is pushing more people out of their homes and onto the streets.
“The 2025 National Conference on Ending Homelessness brings together people across our country on a critical topic at an important time,” said Tim Richter, CAEH’s founder, president and CEO. “CAEH25 is our largest conference ever, with over 2,350 people in attendance. The contribution from the Palais and Tourisme Montréal has allowed us to make this event more accessible and inclusive to attendees, while passing on savings, so even more people working to end homelessness can join us.”
They aim to assess how the event influences public policy, community practices, and public awareness around key priorities such as affordable housing, rapid access to shelter, homelessness prevention, and collaboration between community and institutional partners.
Martinez Ferrada’s homelessness plan
As discussions unfolded inside the conference hall, political debate on the same issue played out just steps away.
Ensemble Montréal leader and mayoral candidate Soraya Martinez Ferrada held a press conference Tuesday morning outside the Palais des congrès to outline her party’s plan to combat homelessness, if elected.
Her announcement highlighted how homelessness has become a defining issue for cities across Canada, one that requires not just emergency responses but long-term, collaborative solutions.
It included a promise that Ensemble Montréal would end encampments in four years.
“We have to really put in place measures on prevention, measures on urgency in terms of urgency with refuge,” said Martinez Ferrada. “We need to address the issue of community organizations that need to have pro-visibility in terms of funding to be able to hire the outreach workers that they need in order to tackle the issue of encampments.
“We are giving ourselves four years to make sure that we tackle the encampments, have a protocol, but mainly have an action coordinated between different levels of government, organizations, health issues to make sure that we address homelessness in the next four years in order to hopefully have no more encampments.”
