Why some Quebec towns are welcoming Mike Ward's tiny shelters — and why advocates for homeless people object

When it comes to housing the homeless, a tiny home is better than nothing — right?

Not quite, says Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.

After a Montrealer died of exposure — the second in under a month — comedian Mike Ward offered to donate 25 "tiny homes" to Montreal as temporary winter shelters for homeless people in the city.

Plante declined. Housing is a complex issue, said Montreal's mayor, and the most vulnerable need an entire ecosystem — including support workers and adapted services — not just a tiny structure in which to shelter from the cold.

Victoriaville, a city of 50,000 located 160 kilometres northeast of Montreal, doesn't share Montreal's reservations. Mayor Antoine Tardif recently accepted five of the tiny wooden shelters. Each is very basic: outfitted with a door, a bed, a mattress and a desk.

"It's certainly not a miracle solution," concedes Tardif. However, his city on the banks of the Nicolet River is experiencing an unprecedented spike in homelessness this winter.

"It will allow us to meet a need, temporarily," he said.

Victoriaville, in collaboration with local community organizations and health resources, is looking into more sustainable solutions, such as a permanent shelter. But that is "a longer-term solution," Tardif said, "for this new reality that we are facing."

This "new reality" is a housing crisis that municipal leaders blame on the pandemic, and surging real estate prices and rents.

In Montreal, an estimated 4,000 people are homeless. The median housing price in the city has increased 59 per cent since 2017 — with a 20 per cent jump occurring between 2020 and 2021 alone. However, those who study the root causes of homelessness say rising housing costs are far from the only culprit.

"If you ask people who have become homeless what pushed them into homelessness … they will provide a lot of answers other than just, 'My housing was too expensive,'" said McGill psychiatry Prof. Eric Latimer, who researches mental health and homelessness.

He says that other drivers include addiction, an inability to pay rent due to job loss or other circumstances, conflict or ill-treatment from a partner, mental health issues, and more.

In Victoriaville, where the city and its partners opened a temporary shelter in December, the eight available beds are regularly filled.

Most people in the community have responded positively to the arrival of the tiny homes, said Tardif — offering to donate supplies and assist with their construction.