{"id":616961,"date":"2026-04-20T17:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616961\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T17:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T17:27:15","slug":"a-solution-and-election-platform-for-housing-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616961\/","title":{"rendered":"A solution, and election platform, for housing crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more than a decade leading Welcome Hall Mission<\/a>, one of Montreal\u2019s largest non-profit organizations helping the vulnerable and unhoused, CEO Sam Watts has resisted all attempts to get him to run for office.<\/p>\n

But with a Quebec election on the horizon in October and Fran\u00e7ois Legault having left the premier\u2019s office<\/a> ahead of the vote, Watts has distilled his on-the-ground knowledge into a ready-made election platform addressing the twin housing affordability and homelessness crises.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a first for Welcome Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m putting this out there for all of our parties and saying: \u2018Look, what\u2019s the harm in saying, it\u2019s 2026, we need to step up because what used to be solidaire in the 1970s ain\u2019t gonna work anymore,’\u201d said Watts, who also sits on Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada\u2019s tactical group on homelessness<\/a>. \u201cAnd so we need to find ways of adapting our Quebec approach to some of the realities that are emerging.\u201d<\/p>\n

The platform has three pillars and nine policy recommendations<\/a> based on tried-and-true prevention measures that could potentially save more than $2 billion a year in health and social services costs. <\/p>\n

The one thing that\u2019s not in the eight-page document? A call for more emergency shelter beds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need fewer because as long as we\u2019re doing that, it\u2019s going in the wrong direction,\u201d Watts said. \u201cThe reality is shelters are a 19th-century solution and we\u2019re really dealing with a 21st-century challenge, so we can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the strategy is based on recognizing safe, affordable housing as a key health determinant and marshalling resources to stop people from losing their homes in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s do a wholesale campaign of prevention and rapid response so that someone who is in an emergency situation can either back out of it, or be helped in days or weeks to find their way back into housing,\u201d said Watts. \u201cThat should be the way we respond to this thing, not to simply accept that this is the way it\u2019s going to be so let\u2019s just organize some encampments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inadequate housing and homelessness cost Quebec\u2019s health system $2.05 billion every year \u2014 before a single shelter bed is funded, the document states.<\/p>\n

Substandard housing is cited by a quarter of Quebecers rating their health as poor \u2014 the leading cause ahead of poverty, unemployment and diet, it adds. People with inadequate homes face twice the risk of health problems including respiratory illness, injury and mental illness. Children in housing with mould, pests or dampness face developmental and educational setbacks, compounding inequity across generations.<\/p>\n

All the statistics were culled from Quebec government sources, Watts noted, so they shouldn\u2019t generate any debate or surprise.<\/p>\n

The platform calls for housing to be enshrined in a public health prevention strategy, integrated housing and health teams to be deployed in every region, and front-line care settings like CLSCs and ERs to screen for housing instability.<\/p>\n

It advocates modernizing housing standards to ensure good air and water quality, accessibility, as well as a comfortable temperature, while tackling mould and pests. It also recommends proactive, risk-based property inspections targeting low-income rental stock in priority neighbourhoods and setting up a permanent fund to finance urgent repairs in housing occupied by vulnerable tenants.<\/p>\n

The fallout from the cost-of-living crisis is a major risk factor for housing instability and homelessness. Over half of food insecurity stems from difficulties affording housing, costing $90 million in food aid each year in Quebec.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a housing policy failure, not a food bank capacity problem,\u201d the document states. \u201cWhen households spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, a predictable cascade begins: grocery spending is cut first, food insecurity rises, children\u2019s development is affected, eviction risk climbs, and homelessness becomes a statistical near-certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The platform recommends expanding portable rent supplements for low-income households and funding community-based eviction prevention programs in every region to intervene before arrears reach the tribunal phase.<\/p>\n

Notably, it calls for the closure of the loophole that allows rents to be jacked up when housing units become vacant, since Quebec only controls increases for tenants. This has driven up the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Quebec to $1,700 a month, a level that is a struggle for low- and middle-income households.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

Not only is the platform timely due to the looming election, it also follows the release of the results of the most recent head count of the unhoused population<\/a> in Quebec this month, which painted a grim picture. The data found that homelessness surged 20 per cent to more than 12,000 since the last enumeration in 2022. While the bulk \u2014 more than 5,000 people \u2014 are in Montreal, the problem is growing much faster in regions where it is an unfamiliar phenomenon.<\/p>\n

But Watts said there is a conundrum behind the statistics, in Montreal at least. Welcome Hall is on pace to rehouse 400 people a year through its various transitional units and programs, and that\u2019s without even counting similar efforts by other groups.<\/p>\n

The organization managed to help 75 unhoused Montrealers sign leases in the last eight weeks alone, despite a housing market that has grown more expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like everybody is failing, but I would say it identifies a systemic issue, which is what I\u2019m trying to get to with these policy ideas,\u201d Watts said.<\/p>\n

While there is no magic bullet, the remedies to this humanitarian crisis are known and proven<\/a>. Someone just needs to have the political courage to implement them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fascinating thing about it is we\u2019ve been doing the solution for a number of years at a very small scale. So all that we\u2019re saying to the government\u00a0\u2014 and various governments, because it does involve the feds and the municipalities \u2014 is let\u2019s scale this thing up,\u201d Watts said. \u201cIt strikes me that if we start moving in the right direction, we will very quickly see a reduction in visible homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parties drafting their own platforms on housing and homelessness should take note.<\/p>\n

ahanes@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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