About Homelessness on the West Island

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Since 2010, homelessness in the West Island is documented (Le phénomène de la domiciliation précaire chez de jeunes adultes dans la zone Ouest-de-l’Île de Montréal; AJOI, UQAM and Ville de Montréal, 2014; L’itinérance à Montréal Au-delà des chiffres, RAPSIM, 2016; Jeunes et itinérance Dévoiler une réalité peu visible, Conseil jeunesse de Montréal, 2017).

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Young people who experience residential instability in WI use strategies such as couchsurfing, crowding and exchange of services making homelessness invisible to society. We call this phenomenon ‘’hidden homelessness’’. The Covid-19 pandemic has weakened the condition of people in a very precarious situation in the WI. Homelessness is increasingly visible, and for the most vulnerable people, it is becoming chronic.

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MISSING RESSOURCES

• The existing resources on WI do not meet the needs of people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

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•  The lack of services in the WI contributes directly to the marginalization of these people,           uprooting them from their community and breaking the sense of security they have developed on the  WI.