A step in the right direction for funding for youth community housing organizations.

Montreal, June 13, 2022 — Today, we welcome the provincial government’s plan to fund community youth housing organizations. However, a shortfall still remains to be won. The province has 47 organizations that offer accommodation services for young people in difficulty. If this budget envelope is divided equally among these organizations, this will leave them with less than $100,000 per organization. Considering that the needs of an accommodation resource that can provide nine beds are more than a million dollars, we find that this increase is insufficient.

The Regroupement des Auberges du cœur du Québec has 31 hostels whose underfunding to date has reached $25 million. If they receive $3 million, that will still leave them with a deficit of $22 million to make up compared to their real needs. Moreover, the distribution according to the poverty index of young people aged 12 to 17 in the different regions does not reflect the financial state of young people, but rather that of their parents. The distribution by region as proposed creates financial inequalities between the various youth housing organizations since it does not take into account the actual needs of community organizations. Moreover, several Auberges du Coeur have received confirmation that they will not be entitled to the enhancement of the Support Program for Community Organizations (PSOC) and others have.