Advocates say Quebec rules keep unhoused voters from polls as election nears

Marcel Dionne Jr. says he won’t let homelessness stop him from voting.

The 66-year-old has been living in transitional housing for the last four months, and plans to list the address of that facility as his residence when he casts his ballot in the Oct. 5 Quebec election.

“I don’t want to be forgotten, I want to be heard,” he said.

Dionne Jr. has followed the campaign closely. He said he has been worried about escalating costs for rent and hasn’t heard any promises that would address his concerns. Still, he said participating in the democratic process is important.

But while the challenges faced by Dionne Jr., and other unhoused people have dominated the campaign’s final weeks, it will likely be difficult for many of them to cast their ballots.

Quebec’s rules for voters without a fixed address are more restrictive than federal rules, and advocates say the gap is disenfranchising a population that has grown to over 12,000 people, increasing by nearly 20 per cent in four years.

Scarlett Martinez of the community group TAPAJ Québec wants the provincial government to change election voting rules to eliminate the barriers that make it harder for unhoused people to vote.

She estimates that less than one per cent of those experiencing homelessness cast a ballot.

“For people who live in situations where there may be fewer options, it can be more restrictive,” she said. “At the federal level, it’s much simpler.”

Elections Canada has long allowed polling stations to be set up inside community organizations, like shelters and soup kitchens.

Élections Québec asked the national assembly to approve a pilot project to make voting more accessible to those experiencing homelessness. But PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon objected to the proposal in the legislature last spring, citing concerns about “electoral fraud.”

“If third parties approach certain groups and say, ‘Go vote,’ … we’re opening the door to possibilities that, in my opinion, need to be considered more seriously,” the PQ leader told journalists last March, when his party voted against the proposal.

That objection contrasts with the PQ’s platform in the current campaign. The party has said homelessness was its “top priority,” with St-Pierre Plamondon pledging to make himself the homelessness superminister if elected.

In Quebec, unhoused voters can confirm their identity with a statement signed by a community organization where they receive services. However, Élections Québec acknowledged in an email that this measure “may not be suitable for everyone experiencing homelessness,” since many would not have access to community support.

At the Old Brewery Mission, a shelter in downtown Montreal, about a dozen people gathered in the cafeteria to watch the final debate of the campaign Sept. 23. Some were scanning the local newspaper waiting for the debate to start. Others scoffed or nodded along as the five leaders presented their visions for the province.

A handful said they planned to cast a ballot.

There are posters around the shelter with information related to the election, and staff are trained to accompany residents to the nearest polling station.

Supervisor Marie-France Chauvin says staff make sure residents feel that they can be heard and affect change. While some are very politically engaged, others are disillusioned, she says.

“Some feel so neglected by politicians that they’ve lost faith in politics,” said Chauvin.

Montreal’s public consultation office recommended in a 2025 report that the province change its rules in line with those of Elections Canada. It noted that community organizations want to assist people in the voting process from start to finish.

“Excluded individuals … are cut off from the means that allow them to participate in decisions that affect their neighbourhood, their city, their region, and their country, leading them to see themselves as having no rights and no voice,” the report says.

Robert Brunet, who works for a local rights defence group, says people experiencing homelessness can also experience social profiling at the polling station, which discourages them from voting. Having experienced homelessness in the 2000s, he adds that it’s crucial for society’s most vulnerable to participate in the democratic process.

“Generally speaking, public funds and the party in power are directed toward communities that exercise their right to vote,” said Brunet. “And it’s going to take a lot of money to solve homelessness.”

Michel A. Messier, who has a room at the Old Brewery Mission, said he didn’t know he could vote using the shelter’s address. The man, who is turning 74, added he hasn’t cast a ballot in over 30 years.

“It doesn’t change anything,” he said. “But if someone brings me (to the polls), I’ll vote.”