Canadian cities struggling to get past 'Whac-A-Mole' solution to homeless encampments

On a strip of grass dividing a busy east-end Montreal thoroughfare from a block of residences in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district stand about two dozen tents, a reflection of a housing market that can't provide enough affordable homes. Tents along that strip of land adjacent to Notre-Dame Street have come and gone since 2020, when the number of homeless people rose rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Homeless people build shelters there and in other empty spaces across the city, and social w