Montreal seizes two hotels to house the homeless

One site will house COVID-19 patients who do not require hospitalization. The other will provide emergency shelter for homeless indigenous people.

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The city of Montreal has used its powers of the state of emergency to requisition two hotels in the city center that will be used as shelters for COVID-19 patients and indigenous homeless people.

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One building will offer 111 spaces for homeless people who have tested positive for COVID-19 but do not require hospitalization, as well as for those who have been isolated due to the virus and those awaiting the result of the COVID-19 test.

The shelter will go into operation this week and will be managed by the Centro-Sud regional health authority, as well as the Old Brewery Mission.

Starting in February, a second hotel will offer 50 emergency shelter beds for homeless indigenous people. That hotel will be located in the Milton Park area and will be managed by the Indigenous projects in Quebec .

The city did not release the addresses of the two hotels.

The state of emergency declared last week by Mayor Valérie Plante allows the city to carry out tasks that require workers and material resources without the need to publish a call for tenders. The state of emergency was triggered by the pandemic and was first declared in Montreal on March 27, 2020. It initially remained in effect until August 23, 2021.