Along a narrow strip of grass separating a busy stretch of Notre-Dame Street from residential buildings in the city’s east end, roughly two dozen tents now stand as a stark symbol of a housing system under strain.
The encampment, located in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, is one of many that have appeared and disappeared across Montreal since the COVID-19 pandemic. As rents climbed and shelter spaces became scarce, more people were pushed onto the streets. City crews, often accompanied by police, periodically dismantle these makeshift shelters, only to see them reappear elsewhere.
Advocates and researchers say the cycle highlights a deeper problem: while homelessness is complex, repeatedly evicting people from encampments does little to solve it.
For 22-year-old Isidro Escobar, one of the tents near Notre-Dame Street has been home for nearly a year. Before that, he lived further west, near an abandoned broadcast tower.
“I lost everything after my divorce,” Escobar said, explaining how a personal crisis quickly spiralled into homelessness.
He has already received two eviction notices from the city. If another comes, he says, he will simply move again.
A short distance away, 40-year-old Devint Vézina was rebuilding his shelter for the fifth time. His latest structure, he said, is designed to house several people at once.
“Where am I supposed to go?” Vézina asked. “No one ever answers that.”
A spokesperson for the City of Montreal said encampments are not a safe or sustainable solution and emphasized that the city is working with community organizations to connect unhoused residents with housing and support services. Officials assess encampments only after they are reported, focusing on safety concerns such as fire risks.
In August, the city announced a pilot project to install 60 modular housing units for unhoused residents by March 2025. Despite this, encampment removals continue. According to a report published by Le Journal de Montréal, 110 encampments were dismantled between January and May 2024 alone.
James Hughes, president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, argues that this approach is ineffective.
“Evictions just move people around,” Hughes said. “It’s like playing Whac-A-Mole.”
He pointed to Houston as an example of a city that combines outreach, planning and housing support, even while people remain in encampments.
Other Canadian cities have tried alternative strategies. Halifax has designated five sites where unhoused people are allowed to camp temporarily. These locations offer access to toilets, drinking water and needle disposal services. Nova Scotia has also purchased small, self-contained Pallet shelters, with dozens allocated to the Halifax region.
Jeff Karabanow, a professor of social work at Dalhousie University, describes designated encampments as far from ideal, but says they may be necessary until governments shift resources from emergency responses to long-term affordable housing.
Political pressure, however, remains intense. Halifax’s new mayor, Andy Fillmore, won a decisive election after criticizing encampments, claiming they attract unhoused people from outside the province a claim Karabanow disputes.
In Toronto, city officials say they now follow a “people-first, human rights-based approach” after an ombudsperson’s investigation found serious unfairness in encampment clearings in 2021. Community workers acknowledge progress but say support is still uneven and housing supply remains far below demand.
For residents living near encampments, coexistence can be difficult. Hugo Michel-Verville, who lives across from the Notre-Dame Street site, says he has faced verbal abuse and feels ignored by authorities.
“There doesn’t seem to be any clear plan not for now, and not for the future,” he said.
David Chapman, executive director of Resilience Montreal, says opposition from neighbourhoods is one of the biggest barriers to progress.
“No one wants the shelter, the subsidized housing, or the tiny homes near them,” Chapman said. “But without those solutions, the problem just grows.”
As tents continue to line Montreal’s streets, the debate over how and where unhoused people should live shows no sign of easing. What remains clear, experts say, is that displacement alone is not a solution.
