Montreal inaugurates second supported modular housing project

Montreal has inaugurated its second modular housing project with on-site support, aimed at providing stable housing and essential services for people experiencing homelessness.

Located in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, the project, named La Station, includes 24 single rooms and three double rooms, accommodating up to 30 residents. The modular homes were designed by reusing the site office structures used by Hydro-Québec for the construction of the La Romaine hydroelectric generating station in Quebec’s Far North.

“We will take couples, so it’s really a problem right now for people who are in a couple in the street,” said Paméla Simard, Housing director at Rue Action Prévention Jeunesse. “They cannot go somewhere and be able to stay together, so we’ll take them. We’ll take people with pets. So we are in a room right now where a dog will be, starting this week, people with cats also. We’re gonna take people with disabilities. We have a room for that.”

The initiative offers transitional housing while supporting social and economic reintegration, access to psychosocial services, and creative activities.

“Everything’s in place for co-habitation,” said Benoit Langevin, Montreal city councillor, executive committee member. “Obviously there’s gonna be questionings, but we’ll be there to answer them and give all the listening required to make sure that this facility has a full integration in the area.”

The Société d’habitation du Québec has invested $1.7 million to enable the development of these units on the Louvain site. This funding stems from the Canada-Quebec Agreement under the Housing Accelerator Fund.

The project was completed through a partnership between the City of Montreal, the Government of Quebec, and the community organization Rue Action Prévention (RAP jeunesse).

Officials at the inauguration included Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Ahuntsic-Cartierville Borough Mayor Maude Théroux-Séguin, and several provincial ministers.

“Homelessness and housing are at the heart of our priorities as a jurisdiction,” said Soraya Martinez Ferrada, mairesse de Montreal. “With this second site of modular housing with support, we are making a concrete and human gesture for Montrealers experiencing homelessness. About 30 people get off the street and have a roof over their heads, stability, support, and above all, the opportunity to take their lives back on track. This project also demonstrates the strength of collaboration, since it is by working together: the City, the various levels of government, community partners and local organizations, that projects like this one are achieved.”

Mayor Martinez Ferrada noted that the project was launched under the previous administration and highlighted the need for future transitional housing to be built more cost-effectively, with each room in this project costing $157,000.

“Homelessness is a very present reality in our neighbourhoods,” said Maude Théroux-Séguin, Mayor of the Borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. “Today, we have a better understanding of it and know how to intervene better at each stage to identify needs and offer better support. I would like to acknowledge the valuable commitment of RAP Jeunesse to this project, and to Ahuntsic-Cartierville. Present in the community for 20 years, their knowledge of the territory and their approach will make it possible to offer real support and initiate a stable, respectful and sustainable exit from homelessness. ”

Montreal opened its first modular housing project last September in Côte-des-Neiges–NDG, with a third site planned for Outremont.

“Gatineau, Ottawa, and Outaouais, it was built with $80,000, 90,000, half of what this cost,” said Martinez Ferrada. “My objective is to do more, more quickly. In the next four years, we took an engagement of 2,000 transition homes, which is a big number. Here we have 30. So you can imagine the work that we have ahead of us. So absolutely, that’s where we’re going.”