By Canadian Press

Rise in number of unhoused people seeking shelter in Montreal ERs as temperatures dip

Jan 3, 2025 | 2:09 PM

MONTREAL — Montreal health authorities say a growing number of people experiencing homelessness are taking refuge in the city’s emergency rooms to stay out of the freezing cold.

Officials say the city’s downtown superhospital known as the CHUM, and hospitals in the southwest are reporting a rise in homeless people in their ERs.

The CHUM and the McGill University Health Centre say they have deployed more social workers and security to assist homeless people.

Marie-Pier Therrien with the Old Brewery Mission says her shelter has noted a rise in calls this year from the CHUM about unhoused people in the ER, mostly at night after metro stations close.

Therrien says Montreal’s shelters and warming stations are at maximum capacity, with the mission turning away an average of 50 people each night, which leaves many unhoused people with nowhere to go to stay warm.

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Pierre Hajek, a person experiencing homelessness, said today inside the Brewery Mission that he has gone to the CHUM’s ER about five or six times this winter to warm up during the night, more than in previous years, because it’s better than freezing outdoors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2025.

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press