Ottawa, Quebec and Montreal Team Up on $37.5 Million Push to House the City's Most Vulnerable

The governments of Canada and Quebec, together with the City of Montreal, announced combined funding of $37.48 million this month for four residential projects that will add 142 units across the city, with a focus on people experiencing homelessness and low-income families.

The largest single contributions go to two projects converting vacant or underused space into supportive housing for homeless individuals: 35 studio units at the Saint-Antoine Est site, backed by $5.69 million in federal money and $9.89 million from Quebec's Programme d'habitation abordable Quebec, and 70 rooms at the Pavillon du Plateau, funded mainly through a $10.7 million provincial contribution plus support from the local health authority. The Old Brewery Mission, a long-running homelessness services organization, will operate both.

Two smaller cooperative housing projects round out the announcement: 16 units at Coop Les Jardins and 21 units at the Cooperative d'habitation L'Escale, both aimed at families and single individuals and financed through a mix of federal Affordable Housing Fund grants, credit union loans, and municipal contributions. Quebec's Societe d'habitation du Quebec and the City of Montreal each contributed to every project, with Montreal's total commitment across all four reaching $8.68 million.

The funding flows in part through the Canada-Quebec Agreement under the Housing Accelerator Fund, alongside matching provincial investments first flagged in Quebec's 2023 and 2024 economic updates. Officials also tied the announcement to Build Canada Homes, the new federal housing agency, noting that Canada and Quebec signed a memorandum of understanding in January to coordinate its rollout across the province through a joint collaboration table meant to streamline approvals between federal, provincial and municipal partners.

City officials framed the announcement as evidence that affordability, not just supply, is the core of Montreal's housing crisis, with local leaders pointing to the timing just after the July 1 moving day, when thousands of Quebec renters traditionally change addresses and gaps in available housing are most visible.