The goal is to reach out to people living in public spaces who are unwilling or unable to go to emergency shelters to offer them services that can help them emerge from homelessness.

A joint legal service is held there every week. The tax return has been the most requested service for two months. Speaker Nicolas Singcaster also received training from the Canada Revenue Agency to respond to the request. He’s made more than thirty in the past few weeks.

You must have paid your taxes and have your identification documents in order to access housingexplains Émilie Fortier, director of rescue services at the Old Brewery Mission.

It is the Telus company that has set up these mobile community health services in major Canadian cities. The one in Montreal is one of the few dedicated to the homeless.

It consists of a white van with the image of Telus and the Old Brewery Mission. Inside there is an area with a bed, a sink, first aid kits and in another area open to the outside, a small table and two benches.

For now, Telus is covering the running costs of the mobile community service, but officials are trying to find other sources of funding that would allow the service to be offered in the evenings to meet other customers.

The van will also travel to other parts of the city in the coming weeks, explains Émilie Fortier.

We’ve targeted certain neighborhoods that seem to need it more, like Lachine, Rosemont, and Villeray. There are also situations in Montreal North, she lists. Only one other demographic will be included in NDG in two years, but we are seeing an increase in visible homelessness in public spaces and overuse of day care services.

While homelessness occurs in several areas of Montreal, it is less visible than downtown.

With information from Philippe-Antoine Saulnier