For Montreal’s unhoused individuals, the early-descending freezing temperatures and the predicted high-precipitation winter ahead pose fatal risks, including frostbite, hypothermia, and death. Yet, shelters across the city are already struggling at and over capacity. Although Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has promised to expand housing and healthcare services for the unhoused,[Read More…]
Tag: housing crisis
Housing is urgent; disclosure should be too
There is no debate that Montreal is experiencing a housing crisis. It is also equally evident that Chinatown’s remaining infrastructural heritage is scarce and essential to the preservation of Chinese culture in Montreal. Those two facts should be mutually exclusive, but right now, municipal lawmakers are threatening to turn Chinatown[Read More…]
Energy poverty in Canada demands political attention
With 20 per cent of Canadian households facing energy poverty—when individuals lack reliable and affordable access to energy services—it is surprising how little political and research attention this social issue receives. Motivated by this research gap, Mylène Riva, an associate professor in McGill’s Department of Geography, and her collaborators set[Read More…]
Montreal’s unhoused population deserves care, not cruelty
The Société de transport de Montréal’s (STM) recent decision to close a major entrance to the Atwater metro station until April 2025 exemplifies Montreal’s unempathetic approach toward its most vulnerable residents. This entrance has long served as a crucial warming space for unhoused individuals during Quebec’s harsh winters. The STM’s[Read More…]
Evictions of encampments encroach on equitable housing solutions
As the housing crisis in Montreal persists, neither the city government nor its citizens are addressing the unhoused population with the empathy and urgency they deserve. A coalition of residents from Saint-Henri recently expressed anger over a decision to build a four-storey housing complex for unhoused individuals and a supervised[Read More…]
Quebec needs real housing solutions, not Bill 31
On Sept. 20, hearings about Bill 31 wrapped up in the National Assembly. The bill proposes a number of changes to current housing legislation, including altering eviction procedures and allowing landlords to prevent lease transfers. Since the bill’s tabling, housing group coalitions such as Regroupement des comités logement et associations[Read More…]
Housing crisis in Inuit Nunangat undermines healthy ageing in Inuit elders
Healthy ageing is unique to each individual and culture. In Western cultures, for example, healthy ageing is measured by physical, emotional, and social well-being. In Inuit culture, ageing is also linked to spirituality, strong familial connections, and community ties. Social determinants of health (SDH) in non-Indigenous ageing, such as a[Read More…]
