Court blocks Montreal from dismantling Van Horne encampment

Quebec Superior Court Judge Alexander Pless has blocked the City of Montreal from dismantling a homeless encampment under the Van Horne overpass, ruling that residents have the right to stay where they are until the city can demonstrate safe alternatives.

The city has been attempting to dismantle or move the encampment since May 13. In his decision, Pless rejected the city's proposed alternatives, stating: "The rights of the residents of the encampment to stay where they are is a consequence of the absence of evidence of a safe alternative."

Clinique Itinérante, a legal clinic advocating for homeless rights, filed for an injunction to block the eviction last month. Following the Superior Court ruling, no further action can be taken against the encampment or its residents — some of whom have lived there since last fall — until the case is heard in full.

The decision underscores how Montreal's housing crisis leaves few options for people with nowhere to go. The court's threshold is simple: the city must prove it has somewhere safer for people to land before it can clear the site.