Inside the Quebec YMCA offering transitional housing to homeless people after hospital stay – CBC

Project aims to reduce strain on health-care network while getting people back on their feet

Feb 04, 2026

Darin Luckie said it was a combination of drugs, alcohol and the COVID-19 pandemic that led to his life falling apart, finding himself without a home in Montreal.

“I expected to recover in a couple months. A couple months turned into a year. And a year turned into four,” he said. “Then you’re like, ‘It’s –30 outside and I don’t want to do this no more,'” he said.

A Montreal health agency has now teamed up with the YMCA to launch a three-month transitional housing pilot project that helps people like Luckie — providing a safe, private-room alternative for people experiencing homelessness after a hospital discharge.

People experiencing homelessness struggle to recover from illness or injury when discharged from emergency, said Catherine Roberge, who is the chief of program administration, addiction and homelessness with the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/housing-montreal-ymca-homelessness-9.7073165