As of next year, Montreal will be expanding its social intervention squad, EMMIS, all over the city.
The squad, which works in tandem with police, responds to conflicts or other issues people in precarious living situations may experience. Launched as a pilot project in 2021 in the Ville-Marie and Sud-Ouest boroughs, EMMIS expanded to the Plateau-Mont-Royal and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve last year. It also operates in the Metro.
The city and Quebec’s Public Security Ministry are spending $50 million to have EMMIS deployed all over Montreal.
“The housing crisis, mental health issues, the rise in homelessness, drug addiction and the cost of living are generating crying needs that must increasingly be met on the streets and in public spaces,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante in a news release.
“EMMIS is a tried and tested Montreal innovation that is proving to be an essential additional tool.”
According to the city, daily calls to EMMIS teams more than doubled over the last year, with 15 per cent of requests coming from residents and businesses.
Between February and June, EMMIS was called to intervene in the Metro 1,075 times.
The city says EMMIS is necessary as it’s made up of front-line social workers who provide immediate responses to non-urgent issues related to the sharing of public space and “allows police to concentrate on criminal and urgent situations.”
EMMIS mainly works with social organizations by offering referrals and car escorts to shelters or other resources.
‘We don’t like to see misery’
Jérémie Lamarche, a community organizer with the Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM), has been a vocal critic of the EMMIS initiative. He co-authored a 2023 report showing that the mixed squad furthers the harassment of vulnerable people who often are already aware of available resources.
“If EMMIS is all over the city, it definitely doesn’t mean there will be less people experiencing homelessness because it’s not attacking the causes,” he said.
Lamarche said though it’s helpful that EMMIS is available 24/7, unlike most resources, the most the squad can do is displace people while shelters in the city are overloaded. If a person refuses to leave, he said police intervention is often the next step.
The City of Montreal has intervened in 460 homeless encampments in the past year. And with warm weather on the way, front-line workers are expecting to see more.
The squad serves to hide poverty from public spaces and can contribute to the criminalization of homelessness, Lamarche added.
“We don’t like to see misery,” he said. “EMMIS cannot try to get a compromise between a person living in an encampment and the City of Montreal because they work for the city,” said Lamarche.
Lamarche would rather see public funds go to social housing, social assistance and mission-based funding for community organizations. He also says a moratorium on the dismantling of homeless encampments should be put in place until more viable alternatives are available.