Montreal cold snap: city opening temporary emergency shelter downtown, 2 new warming centres
Posted December 4, 2025 1:34 pm.
Last Updated December 4, 2025 4:39 pm.
With temperatures in southern Quebec plunging this week, the City of Montreal is opening a temporary emergency shelter downtown.
The shelter at the YMCA Centre-Ville will open Thursday evening. It will offer about 100 beds and will be open from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
The wind chill Thursday afternoon is expected to make things feel like minus-21 Celsius. Overnight, it will feel like minus-23 C.
It will be more of the same Friday, with wind chills nearing minus-19 C. It’s expected to warm up slightly on Saturday and Sunday.
The city says teams made up of police, the health network and community groups will be deployed in the field to inform homeless people of available services.
Looking ahead to next week and beyond, the City of Montreal says it’s opening a warming centre at Sainte-Bibiane Church in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and another at the Sainte-Émélie Convent in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
Sainte-Bibiane will accommodate 20 vulnerable women each night, offering them a place to warm up, rest, and eat. The service will be offered from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m.
Sainte-Émélie will accommodate up to 60 people starting Dec. 15. It will be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
