Projets Autochtones du Québec (PAQ) broke ground for the construction of a shelter for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness in downtown Montreal Thursday.
The new facility on Sherbrooke Street West — dubbed PAQ2 — will offer emergency housing and culturally-sensitive support services.
In a press release Thursday, PAQ said that the building will include 50 cubicles, rest areas, computer stations and workspaces for the staff providing services. It will fully be accessible to those with reduced mobility.
The facility will also feature a supervised consumption site in the outdoor courtyard following a harm-reduction approach.
“In the face of persistent systemic inequalities, our solutions must imperatively be rooted in Indigenous ways of being and knowing,” said Stacy Boucher-Anthony, executive director of PAQ.