Resilience Montreal calling on the city for more resources for homeless amid heat wave

Montreal has been experiencing a heat wave for the last few days, and the temperatures keep rising as the first day of summer kicked off.

With the ongoing effects of the housing crisis, many people are living on the street in the extreme heat.

David Chapman is the executive director for Resilience Montreal. He said that the city of Montreal needs to offer more resources to help the homeless population.

“If you’re homeless, you’re not always welcome just to be in a food court in a mall or even in the library,” said Chapman. “There is still in Montreal a shortage of accessible places where people can escape from the heat.”

Chapman explained that when it gets really hot, those seeking services come in more stressed out.

According to Environment Canada, heat records were broken in 40 cities in Quebec on Wednesday, and on Thursday, Montreal felt like 41 degrees with the humidex.

“When people are more miserable because of the heat, often they’re turning to either a substance or they’re grumpier with the people they’re with, which leads to more conflict, which can lead to injury or even death. And of course, if you fall asleep directly in the heat without what you need, such as water, that can also be a way that your life comes to an end,” said Chapman.

The weather agency predicts the current heat wave in Quebec rivals some of the worst that Eastern Canada has seen in July or August, and these heat levels have rarely been observed in June.

Nathan Neil is a volunteer at Resilience Montreal. He said that during the heat, the shelter can provide resources to help cool you down.

“During this heat, you want to stay hydrated, you want to be in cool areas, you want to go to the resources, such as resilience. They can assist you.”

However, Chapman said that wealthier regions in Montreal, push homeless resources to the edge, making other regions work twice as hard to cover up the work.

Resilience Montreal is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“It’s a priority to make sure that there’s water and cool products like freezies available, which people love, and make sure the air conditioning is working,” said Chapman. “People say, well, wouldn’t it be great if you open more hours? We say, yeah, we’d love to be, but you have to be able to pay for the hours that you’re open.”