Quebec women’s shelters call for more support following 9th suspected femicide

Women’s shelter groups are calling on Quebec’s new premier, Christine Fréchette, to invest more in expanding shelter capacity following the province’s ninth suspected femicide of 2026.

They warn that the situation is critical, saying current government funding only covers less than half of what’s needed.

“We know it’s happening. So that’s why it’s really urgent to actually take the steps to protect these women,” said Alyssa Cloutier, a spokesperson for Regroupement des Maisons pour Femmes Victimes de Violence Conjugale.

Quebec’s latest budget, which was passed in March, earmarked $21 million over five years to strengthen shelter services.

But advocates say that’s only enough to support 40 per cent of the needs of shelters — and on top of that, no money has been set aside to create new spaces.

“It’s really hard to have experienced staff that stays in the shelters because of the conditions, because of the salary that is not enough for how hard we are working,” Cloutier said.

CityNews reached out to the premier’s office for comment, but has not heard back at this time.

Meanwhile, SOS Violence Conjugale tells CityNews that just over five in ten women who requested help had to be turned down. About half of those women were referred to shelters out of their communities, sometimes to places that are difficult to access.

“The problem are not the victims, it’s really about the system,” Cloutier said.

All this follows the death of Hiba Elrhazi, a woman in her twenties living in downtown Montreal who was allegedly murdered by her partner, Alexandre Karim Amau Restau.

Police said she was found shot after a call was sent in from a nearby condo on Wednesday afternoon.

Her partner has since been charged with manslaughter after being arrested at Montreal-Trudeau Airport.

“There are some who (said) before (that) she wanted to leave the situation, but she has no resources to leave this man or leave the apartment,” said Malick Wase, a neighbour.

Neighbours are now questioning whether she had access to the help she needed.

“And now we have a tragedy in the building,” said Wase.

Advocates with Women’s Shelters Canada say the shortage of space is not unique to Quebec.

Across the country, shelters are either full or in need of major upgrades.

“The infrastructure itself is very old, so there could be flooding or mold issues that make it so that it’s unsafe for people to stay there,” said Kaitlin Geiger-Bardswich, the director of communications for Women’s Shelters Canada.

Women’s Shelters Canada says rising housing costs are slowing turnover and limiting available beds.

“It kind of creates a bottleneck effect where new women can’t move into shelter because those spaces are not being turned over as much as they are ‘supposed to be,’” said Geiger-Bardswich.

Building new shelters also comes with challenges, including higher costs and competition for land with private developers.

Advocates say government support is key to making those projects viable.

“They’re competing against organizations that are creating, let’s say, one-bedroom homes or studio apartments, and so the amount of money that can be earned on that is much higher than for multi-bedrooms,” said Geiger-Bardswich.

Cloutier added, “It needs to be a priority, and we really need to act now.”