Homelessness in Quebec

Members of the media may directly contact:

Tim Aubry (French and English)
 

Full Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences
 

Email: [email protected]

Professor Aubry’s expertise includes community mental health services, homelessness, and Housing First. He is currently the Co-Chair of the Canadian Housing First Network - Community of Interest.

Dahlia Namian (French and English)

Associate Professor, Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences and member of the “Clinique interdisciplinaire en droit social de l'Outaouais”

Email: [email protected]

Professor Namian can comment on this subject from the perspective of social inequality.

"The increase in homelessness is the clear and direct result of a lack of action and investment by the various levels of government in the fight against homelessness. The Outaouais region has seen the sharpest rise in homelessness in Quebec since 2018, with an increase of 268%. The flagrant lack of social housing, rising rents and the absence of structural responses to poverty are directly to blame. As long as elected officials continue to respond to the symptoms, rather than the causes, homelessness will continue to rise. It should also be noted that this dramatic increase only concerns the more visible part of homelessness; we must also take into account the growing number of people experiencing hidden or less visible forms of homelessness."