The City of Montreal has opened a new temporary shelter for asylum seekers in a building that once housed a convent.
READ MORE: Montreal non-profits gearing up to help Haitian asylum seekers
“We buy beds, we put mattresses, we put the linen on, we make sure they’re being fed three times a day,” said Francine Dupuis, with the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
“Our people are very, very busy dealing with families that are in distress; they’re playing with their lives now.”
Mayor Denis Coderre says the shelter, which opened Sunday evening and can accommodate about 300 people, is well-organized and suitably equipped.
READ MORE: Quebec housing asylum seekers in Olympic Stadium, dealing with 150 requests a day
Coderre also says the city will continue its efforts to find other temporary housing solutions.
WATCH BELOW: Asylum seekers in Montreal
He pointed out that between 250 and 300 people are arriving daily at the Canadian border, up from 50 a day in the first half of July.
READ MORE: With spike in asylum seekers, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium to be used as shelter
Hundreds of them, many from Haiti, are already being housed at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
“Our country is helping people from a place that’s very hard,” said Carlos Escobar, a maintenance worker in the building.
“I’m really up for it. I hope they get a better future here in Quebec.”
READ MORE: Canada equipped to handle spike in Quebec asylum seekers: Trudeau
In the United States, the Trump administration is considering ending a program that granted Haitians so-called “temporary protected status” following the massive earthquake that struck their homeland in 2010.
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