Emergency homeless shelter to move from Chinatown to Verdun
CTV
An emergency homeless shelter will open in Montreal's Verdun borough this winter to take on those displaced by the closure of a busy facility in Chinatown.
An emergency homeless shelter is slated to open in Montreal's Verdun borough this winter.
According to Verdun Mayor Marie-Andrée Mauger, the new shelter, located at the former Jardins Gordon seniors' residence, will be temporary.
"Given the vulnerability crisis and the increase in homelessness across the metropolis, including Verdun and the greater southwest, the borough has agreed that this building will temporarily serve as an emergency accommodation service," she posted on Facebook Friday morning.
The building on Gordon Street near Champlain Boulevard has been vacant since 2022.
Last June, city officials announced it would be converted into affordable housing.
That's still the plan, according to Mauger, but it will serve as an emergency shelter in the meantime.
"It seemed immoral to us to leave a building vacant this winter rather than making it temporarily available to keep vulnerable people safe and warm," she wrote.
