The Daily UbuntuThread 06 · Economy and Inequality · October 3, 2026
The Key First
The At Home/Chez Soi project showed that offering housing first, then support, helps twice as many people stay housed, even as homelessness rises in Quebec.
1 · The scene
The key ring weighs almost nothing: two keys, one for the front door downstairs, one for 3B. He has been turning them over in his hand since the elevator.
The outreach worker waits in the hallway, a grocery bag dangling from her arm. She doesn't ask him to prove he is "ready." She only asks whether he prefers coffee or tea.
In the empty kitchen, he turns on the tap, turns it off, turns it on again. Then he sits on the floor, back against the wall, and says quietly, as if to get used to the sound: home.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
A Roof Before Conditions
For a long time, many programs asked people experiencing homelessness to prove they were "ready" before handing them an apartment. The Housing First approach reverses the order: an ordinary home right away, then support tailored to each person, at their own pace.
To put it to the test, Ottawa invested $110 million in 2008 in the At Home/Chez Soi research project, led by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton. From 2009 to 2013, 2,148 homeless people living with a mental illness were randomly assigned to Housing First or to usual services. In Montreal, 469 people took part; the Douglas Institute ran the housing team and the rent supplements.
The results are clear. In the last six months of follow-up, 62% of Housing First participants were housed all of the time, compared with 31% in usual services. In Montreal, for people with high needs, every $10 invested saved an average of $8.27 in other services.
The streets have not emptied since. On April 15, 2025, Quebec's count found 12,077 people experiencing visible homelessness, 20% more than in 2022, including 5,036 in Montreal. In April, Montreal's mayor argued for a "roof first" approach, while acknowledging that the money added by every level of government is not enough to change the trend. Because a key needs a door: without enough affordable housing, the approach has nothing to work with. On Monday, World Habitat Day will recall everyone's right to adequate housing. A promise that can only be kept together.
3 · The voice
“To tackle homelessness, we need to fight both poverty and the housing crisis.”
4 · The question
When someone in our neighbourhood no longer has a door to close behind them, what are we willing to open, together, so they can find their place among us again?
Sources
- At Home/Chez Soi final report, executive summary (Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2014, French version) commissionsantementale.ca
- At Home/Chez Soi, Montreal site final report (Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2014, in French) commissionsantementale.ca
- Count of people experiencing visible homelessness in Quebec: first 2025 results (Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, 2026, in French) www.newswire.ca
- Count shows 20% rise in homelessness in Quebec between 2022 and 2025 (The Canadian Press, 2026, in French) www.lechodemaskinonge.com
- Experts: Montreal braces for another July 1 amid the housing crisis (McGill University, 2023) www.mcgill.ca
- World Habitat Day (United Nations) www.un.org
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
Tags
Read also
In whose shade?
In Montreal, tree shade is unequally shared between neighbourhoods; new plantings now target the hottest areas.
ReadJuly 2018, the heat that isolates
The 2018 heat wave caused 66 deaths in Montreal, mostly among people who were alone or ill: neighbourly solidarity saves lives.
ReadThe fridge that doesn't ask your name
In Montreal, community fridges set up on sidewalks let people give and take without forms or screens, while demand for food aid soars in Quebec.
Read