Housing crisis response
Despite delays, the containers project on Gatineau’s Robert-Guertin site is on track
Mélissa Gélinas
With 2025 already upon us, what will happen to the installation of the 100 containers planned for the end of 2024 on the Robert-Guertin site? At the press scrum held on December 12, Jean-Pierre Poulin, President of Transitiôn Québec, and Nancy Martineau, General Manager of Transitiôn Québec, spoke about the project’s progress.
By December 2024, a number of containers had already been installed on the site to house homeless people. Of the 100 containers planned, half have already been installed. It will not, however, house 50 people. “We have to wait for Hydro-Québec to arrive and we also want to have a solid team on the ground,” said Nancy Martineau. “I really wanted to welcome at least seven people before Christmas,” she added.
The complexity of the project can explain the delay, as well as the changes in funding mechanisms that have enabled Transitiôn Québec to access government subsidies.
“By changing the financing method, we are giving them more flexibility and agility to meet government program criteria,” said Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, Mayor of Gatineau. “When we adopted the emphyteutic lease and all the resolutions in September and October, we thought it was the right way to realize that, if we made certain adjustments, we would be able to make this project even more interesting,” she continues.
The container project is scheduled for completion by April. “We'll have all 100 containers installed by then,” said Jean-Pierre Poulin. At the same time, a service bureau, communal kitchens and a bicycle repair container will also be set up.
“The idea is that this will help people move on to other, more permanent solutions, while being supported by social services,” explained Steve Moran, a local councillor in the Hull-Wright district. “I hope this will take some pressure off the site.”
Of the 89 people interviewed, 82 were selected to live in the containers. “We gave priority to people who are currently living in the camps,” said Ms Martineau.
A public consultation on the future of the Transitiôn village is due to take place in the first few months of 2025.
Une consultation publique quant à l’avenir du village Transitiôn devra avoir lieu d’ici les prochains premiers mois de 2025.
