A brand new report by Amnesty Worldwide warns that overcrowded and unsafe housing in an Atikamekw neighborhood north of Montreal displays a broader disaster placing Indigenous folks’s well being, security and rights in danger throughout Canada.
In Manawan, about 250 kilometres north of Montreal, neighborhood leaders say households are commonly reaching out for emergency housing help as properties turn into more and more overcrowded and circumstances deteriorate.
“Each week, elected officers and neighborhood leaders obtain calls, messages and pressing requests from households in the hunt for housing who are sometimes motivated by vital conditions the place the protection of ladies and youngsters is at stake,” stated Sipi Flamand, chief of the Atikamekw Council of Manawan, on the launch of the report in Montreal.
The report is predicated on a two-year investigation into housing circumstances within the distant Lanaudière neighborhood. It discovered extreme overcrowding, getting old infrastructure and lengthy delays in constructing new properties — pressures native leaders say have pushed the system past its limits.
“Our housing inventory is already severely overcrowded,” Flamand stated. “The wants are pressing, alarming and much exceed present capability. It’s with a deep sense of helplessness that we obtain these requests, realizing that delays associated to funding packages are delaying responses which can be pressing and important.”
In line with Amnesty Worldwide, the housing scarcity goes far past an absence of bodily buildings, with widespread penalties for basic human rights.
“In Indigenous communities, not solely the suitable to housing, but additionally the rights to schooling, well being, privateness, security and life are being violated,” stated France-Isabelle Langlois, director basic of Amnesty Worldwide’s francophone part in Canada.
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She added that many households are compelled to reside in unsafe and overcrowded properties, usually stricken by mould and poor circumstances that contribute to sickness and stress.
”The cycle of violence towards girls, ladies, youngsters and elders continues. Additionally, the shortage of housing usually results in homelessness,” Langlois stated.
Though the report focuses on Manawan, comparable circumstances exist in lots of the nation’s greater than 600 Indigenous communities.
“We reside the identical realities,” stated Vivianne Chilton, chief of Wemotaci, an Atikamekw neighborhood in Quebec’s Mauricie area. “There could be three or 4 households in a single home … mornings are very demanding … if there is just one bathroom.”
Housing pressures are additionally pushing some residents to go away their communities for city centres, she stated, usually due to overcrowding and lack of privateness.
Knowledge cited by the Meeting of First Nations Quebec-Labrador means that $139 billion is required to deal with housing wants in Indigenous communities throughout Canada, together with roughly $8 billion in Quebec alone.
Francis Verreault-Paul, chief of the group, stated the province wants greater than 10,000 new housing models, together with main repairs to 1000’s of current properties.
However he expressed frustration with each the federal and provincial governments, pointing to an absence of concrete commitments within the newest federal financial replace delivered by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
“There was the financial replace yesterday, and no main announcement was made in that regard,” he stated.
Verreault-Paul additionally criticized what he described as ongoing jurisdictional disputes between Quebec and Ottawa, saying they’re slowing progress on housing.
He stated housing shortages are additionally contributing to Indigenous homelessness in city centres, and making it more durable for folks to return to their communities.
“I feel there are a lot deeper questions that must be answered about that, however actually there’s a correlation between the 2. It’s a phenomenon that impacts everybody,” he stated.
On the similar time, he stated the shortage of housing is stopping many from returning to their communities after pursuing schooling or profession alternatives elsewhere.
”It’s utterly mindless to have this case the place folks go away to amass instruments, however can not convey them again residence,” he stated.
For Amnesty Worldwide, the disaster displays deeper systemic points that require pressing motion from all ranges of presidency.
“The state of affairs requires rapid and vital measures in order that First Nations can reside in dignity,” Langlois stated.
Flamand stated the state of affairs represents a deeper structural downside that goes past infrastructure.
“The housing disaster in Indigenous communities is a structural injustice that may not be tolerated or made invisible,” he stated.
He stated addressing it requires greater than development.
“Responding to this disaster is just not solely about constructing homes,” he stated. “It’s about rebuilding the very foundations of our communities and supporting their self-determination. It’s also about laying the foundations of a renewed relationship between Indigenous Peoples and Canadian society.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed April 29, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press