Montréal prepares nine warming-centre sites, pending funding and operators

Montréal has identified nine sites where temporary warming centres could operate during the cold season, although the city says their opening remains conditional on provincial funding and agreements with community organizations that would run them.

The locations listed in the city’s October 8 update include one site each in Saint-Laurent, Verdun, Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Ahuntsic–Cartierville and LaSalle, plus two sites in Ville-Marie and two in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie. Preparatory work is underway.

Warming centres are intended to give people experiencing homelessness a place to warm up, rest, have a snack and connect with services during severe cold. Because the city has not said the nine centres are funded and open, residents should not treat the list as a current overnight-shelter directory.

For non-urgent referrals and community resources, Montréal points residents to 211. The city says 311 can be used for issues involving encampments or public-space sanitation, 811 for health advice and 911 for emergencies.

Illustrative winter photo: Cameron J. / Unsplash Licence. It does not depict one of the proposed centres; cropped and resized for publication.