Winter conditions can be particularly demanding for people who are already struggling. The cold and snow can exacerbate vulnerabilities and make simple tasks such as getting around, buying groceries, and socializing all the more complex. Community agencies have to ramp up their services during this time to ensure no one is left to face these challenges alone.
When winter hits hard
Any unexpected event during the winter—a high hydro bill, delayed transportation to a food bank, or even a bad bout of the flu—can put many vulnerable people into a spiral they can’t escape.
Winter can take a heavy toll. During this season, some people may have to choose between heating their homes and buying food or between staying home where it’s safe and leaving home to get help or stay connected.
Needs that change… and grow
As the temperature falls, agencies have to provide warm clothing, boots, and coats. Warm spaces for people experiencing homelessness are crucial, as is access to community resources for people in need.
Winter isolation is a hardship particularly for people living alone, seniors, newcomers, and people with reduced mobility. Informal networks of neighbours, friends, and acquaintances are less available during the winter. Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression are often exacerbated during this time.
Many newcomers can be quite taken aback by their first snowstorm, while some seniors may go weeks without seeing a soul.
Every year, Anne‑Sylvie Darilus, Executive Director of the Association pour aînés résidant à Laval (APARL), sees how winter directly impacts the involvement and morale of the agency’s members: “We always see a dip in participation during the winter. Many people clearly tell us, ‘If the weather’s bad, I’m not going out.’ I get it. They’re afraid of falling, injuring themselves, and losing their independence.”
She added that, in some cases, winter can even reduce the agency’s ability to identify vulnerable people: “Our outreach worker often goes to parks, cafés, and malls to identify people who are vulnerable. But fewer people go outside during the winter. So we definitely don’t reach as many of them.”
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Everyone has to pay close attention during these harsh months. Anne-Sylvie Darilus stressed how the risks increase for people with cognitive losses: “We are seeing more people with cognitive losses become disoriented outside their homes in both summer and winter. However, in winter, this situation can get dangerous very quickly.”
Situations of abuse can also worsen during the cold season: “When a senior is experiencing mistreatment, winter can mean they have nowhere to go. We’ve seen people literally become prisoners in their homes because of the snow or ice, as they have no way of getting out.”
Winterizing community action
To tackle these challenges, community agencies have had to adapt. They organize transportation, make friendly check-in calls and home visits, extend their opening hours, set up warming centres, and deploy more outreach workers. All of this is made possible thanks to support from partners like Centraide.
“Bad weather means that people with reduced mobility, like seniors, can’t come to our P’tit Marché monthly food assistance service,” said Rainbow Charbonneau, Executive Director of the Maison d’Entraide St-Paul et Émard.“When that happens, we can make deliveries. This is not an official service, but we know our clients.”
Food security agencies also have procurement issues. “We have less food, as we don’t source our fresh fruit and vegetables from local producers,” said Rainbow Charbonneau. “We depend solely on Moisson Montréal. However, in the summer, we can buy our supplies from more diverse sources.”
“When they are calling for –25 °C outside, we open earlier and close later. We also change the rules a bit. We let people experiencing homelessness come to the Espace-Jeunes without necessarily offering specific services. We give them a coffee and a place to spend time just so they can get warm,” said Julien Clusiau Perreault, Executive Director of Macadam Sud in Longueuil.
“There are up to 70 or 75 encampments in the summer,” he said. “In the winter, there are maybe 20 at most. Many people leave the streets and reluctantly go to shelters, while others move to temporary resources or the homes of friends or places in the regions.”
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Once the cold descends, the camps may get smaller, but the people who remain are often more vulnerable and more spread out. To stay connected, the agency has to literally move their services with them. This is what prompted Macadam Sud to set up a shuttle bus between encampments, which it did by reinvesting funds originally meant for a since-abandoned initiative to construct mini-homes. Rather than let the resources go unused, the agency purchased a vehicle that they equipped to provide direct support. “We bring sleeping bags that can withstand temperatures of up to –35 °C. We also provide hand warmers, thermal underwear, and lunch boxes. We may even drive people to day centres or shelters,” explained Julien Clusiau Perreault.
In Longueuil, the Halte-Répit under the Jacques Cartier Bridge just set up an important new facility this year, as it opened a community café in a trailer that is open 24 hours a day. The Abri de la Rive–Sud and Halte du Coin are two Centraide-supported agencies that provide services and support at the café. Not only do they hand out snacks and provide access to a warm space, but they also run an innovative boxed-lunch dispenser project that is managed by Macadam Sud. “People can access free meals from these vending machines with an OPUS card registered by our team. Each person is entitled to one meal every 24 hours. We have one at the Halte du Coin and another at the Halte-Répit trailer,” said Julien Clusiau Perreault.
Action where it is needed
With winter comes specific, concrete actions on the front line. For example, agencies may give out coats and boots to a newly arrived family, call an isolated person every day to make sure they are okay and have access to food, or find temporary accommodation for someone in a situation of homelessness. Although it may seem simple, this work requires a great deal of organization and can strain teams when their days are filled with the unexpected.
“The food we give out to the community is picked, sorted, and prepared by volunteers,” said Rainbow Charbonneau. “If our volunteers can’t come because of the weather, which doesn’t happen often, then our employees will pick up the slack. We won’t simply cancel the service.”
© Maison d’entraide
Immediate and lasting effects
What community agencies do during the winter has many impacts, both now and in the future. In the short term, their work helps reduce health and safety risks, stabilize critical situations, and provide fast access to assistance.
At APARL, the role of the community outreach worker is often decisive: “Follow-up is essential. Isolated people have a thousand reasons not to go out, and the cold gives them a thousand more. Without support, many people avoid doing things that could really help them,” said Anne-Sylvie Darilus.
In the medium term, agencies stay connected with highly isolated people, keep them from dropping out of services, and refer them to other resources.
In the long term, they strengthen the social safety net and create an environment in which no one is left out in the cold, even when the weather gets harsh.
What winter reveals
Winter shows just how much agencies play a key role on the front line. Their ability to quickly adapt, their in-depth knowledge of the community, and their proximity to vulnerable populations are essential to meet needs that can’t wait for spring.
However, winter is also a time when agencies are pushed to their limits, as this period adds pressure to teams, drains resources, and increases the need for constant assistance to keep services going.
While winter reveals the strength of these agencies, it also reveals the urgent need to support them year-round.
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