Quebec coroner investigating after three homeless people died last week in Montreal

MONTREAL —

The Quebec coroner’s office says it has ordered an investigation into the deaths of five homeless people in Montreal after noticing an increase in deaths among some of the city’s most vulnerable people.

The mayor of Montreal and those working to tackle homelessness said they welcomed the news, with the president and CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission noting community organizations have been urging governments to do more to address this population for years.

“We can’t keep ignoring these deaths,” said Sam Watts. “If it was any other segment of the population dying like this, we’d be asking questions.”

Chief coroner Reno Bernier said Wednesday in a release that his office will hold an inquest into five cases that have emerged since September in Montreal.

Three unhoused people died in the span of two days in Montreal last week.

Valmont Brousseau, 71, and Alain Paris, 55, died in separate homeless shelters on March 24, the mayor’s office confirmed. The next day, 57-year-old Serge Martin died, said the coroner.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada broke down in tears when she announced two of the three deaths at a news conference last week.

On Wednesday, the mayor told journalists she welcomed the coroner’s inquest, saying the deaths should be more than just statistics.

“I’m very happy that this investigation will shed light on what we need to do,” she said. “But honestly, the community organizations that I see today, they will tell us, ‘We know what to do.’ So I hope that it will help to move governments and all partners to do more.”

The coroner will also investigate the Oct. 24 death of Marie Soleil Nantais, 46, and the Sept. 23 death of 30-year-old Jennifer De Nobile.

Bernier said the inquest will offer an in-depth analysis into the contributing factors of the five deaths, and he has tasked coroner Stéphanie Gamache and prosecutor Émilie Fay-Carlos to conduct the hearings.

Bernier said Gamache can also consider other recent deaths under similar circumstances.

According to the mayor, 108 people experiencing homelessness died in 2024.

Bernier said in the release that “a thorough examination is needed to address the underlying human and social issues.”

“Because every life matters, it is essential to shed full light on the causes and circumstances of these deaths,” he said.

He said the inquest will lead to recommendations for the city to better protect those experiencing homelessness and foster broader discussion on key issues to prevent further deaths.

Watts said he did not expect any surprises to come out of the inquest. He said a handful of times a year, someone at the shelter “simply doesn’t wake up.”

He said living on the street takes a large toll on the body and those with pre-existing medical conditions have a hard time accessing the care they need.

Health can deteriorate quickly if someone is unhoused for four to six months or longer, and the risks rise with age, he said.

“Somebody who might have untreated diabetes or an underlying heart condition, high blood pressure, things that for people like you and me are treatable, but for somebody who’s on the street, they don’t get proper treatment and that can result in somebody just passing away quietly,” Watts said.

Martinez Ferrada said she will wait for the inquiry’s results before speaking on the causes of death but noted “life on the streets is really hard” and that mental health and addiction issues can also come into play.

This will be Gamache’s second investigation into the deaths of people experiencing homelessness in five years.

In 2023, she published her report into the death of Raphaël André, an unhoused Innu man who died in an outhouse near a day shelter in January 2021.

Gamache issued 23 recommendations at the time, including streamlining services for the homeless, increasing the number of shelters allowing those who are intoxicated and better funding for emergency shelters.

Watts said there are many fixes “that just make common sense to the average individual” that are waiting adequate funding.

He said all level of government need to work in tandem for real solutions to be put in place.

The federal government announced Wednesday it is extending funding for its Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative, which was supposed to end March 2026. Montreal will get $13 million of the $125 million envelope.

Quebec had increased its funding for homelessness, earmarking $24 million in its latest budget, to make up for the loss of the program. Martinez Ferrada said she hopes the money will stay in place despite Ottawa’s announcement.

“The solutions to homelessness are very simple: housing with social and psychological and health support,” she said. “We have to do more.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

Erika Morris, The Canadian Press