Without funding, Listuguj's only shelter will close. What happens next?

A shelter in Listuguj Mi'gmaq Territory in Quebec will end daytime operations after Friday and is expected to shut down entirely by the end of March due to insufficient funding. 

"It's awful because 13 community members have lost their jobs, and then we have [about] 20 people that have no place to go," said Cathy Martin, chair of Epgwa's'g Temporary Shelter's board of directors.

The shelter, which opened in 2022, operates with eight beds and is often at maximum capacity. Due to its location on the Quebec-New Brunswick border, it also serves the nearby Mi'kmaw communities of Eel River Bar in New Brunswick and Gesgapegiag in Quebec, as well as providing services to non-Indigenous individuals from neighbouring areas like Campbellton, N.B., and Pointe-à-la-Croix, Que.

Epgwa's'g was established in response to a growing crisis of homelessness in Listuguj, which has an on-reserve population of 2,076. 

"There's not enough housing in the community. There just simply isn't," said Martin.

Martin credited the community and local businesses in raising $70,000 which allowed the shelter to open its doors.

"The whole shelter, everything was donated in there… Every piece of furniture, every linen, everything," Martin said. 

"Community came together to build that shelter."

Epgwa's'g has since relied on federal and provincial funding to sustain its operations. Martin said its primary funding source, the federal Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative, wasn't renewed for the upcoming fiscal year.

'A drop in the bucket'

Martin said the board sought alternative funding through Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and was able to secure $40,000 — but she said that's "a drop in the bucket" compared to what's needed.

She criticized the federal government for prioritizing Indigenous populations in urban areas like Montreal over rural Indigenous communities.

"Are you trying to lure our homeless into the city?" Martin asked. 

Martin said she felt the federal government was catering to urban voters by trying to show they were addressing the issue of urban Indigenous homelessness, but failing to address the crisis on reserve. 

"The true Indigenous homelessness that's happening in the community, nobody sees other than other First Nation people," she said.

"So you don't really care. You don't really care if they're taken care of or not."

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada didn't respond to a request for comment by time of publishing.  

Maxime Tardif, media spokesperson for Quebec's Indigenous Affairs minister, said the province recognizes the "delicate situation" the centre is in.

Tardif said the province contributed previously to the facility through its Indigenous Initiatives Fund IV program and said the province may be able to assess the shelter's needs again.

"We remain open to discussions with the organization to assess the extent of its financial requirements following this drastic and unprecedented cut by Indigenous Services Canada," said Tardif.

"That being said, it remains to the federal government to assume its responsibilities as a primary funding source for this establishment."

Lack of options

If Epgwa's'g closes, the nearest available shelter is about 100 kilometres away in Bathurst and can serve at least 28 people but is at maximum capacity.

"We are currently facing a very similar dire situation," said Jeremy Rousselle, manager of the Bathurst shelter.

It may be forced to close its doors by the end of next month because a partnership with the local youth centre ended. 

"I wish I could be of much more assistance. But sadly, besides space for one female, I have no place for anybody," Rousselle said.

The New Brunswick Department of Social Development said it was working with community partners to try and find a solution to allow the Bathurst Emergency Homeless Shelter to continue operating without disruption.

There are three shelters in Miramichi, N.B., operated by Miramichi Housing Solutions, with a combined capacity of 28 individuals. However, these facilities are frequently full.

Luke Tucker, business officer with Miramichi Housing Solutions, said the possible closure of two shelters in the region was "absolutely brutal and devastating."

"We are concerned about the closures of other shelters, absolutely, because that becomes an overflow into other parts of the province and things and it puts a bottleneck on services," said Tucker.

Maison de L'Espoir de Mont-Joli in Mont-Joli, Que., about 170 kilometres from Listuguj, holds a total of nine beds but was unable to share information about its current capacity. A representative at Accueil Blanche Goulet in Gaspé, Que., about 300 kilometres from Listuguj, said it is at maximum capacity, but was unable to share the total number of beds.