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City of Montreal intervention team of social workers to get $50M budget boost

“The Mobile Mediation and Social Intervention Team is the first municipal team of social workers in Quebec. Every day, they de-escalate conflicts and support vulnerable people in public places. This Montreal-specific initiative is a great success and will be expanded!”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is citing the success of the Mobile Mediation and Social Intervention Team (EMMIS), which is getting a $50-million budget increase, funded equally by the city and the Quebec government.

EMMIS — which began as a pilot project in Sept. 2021 with a budget of only $160,000 and staff of six — is a mobile team of social workers whose work with homeless and other vulnerable Montrealers serves as a complement and alternative to police interventions. According to Plante, EMMIS has been involved in 10,000 interventions so far, more than a quarter of which were by request of the Montreal police.

“EMMIS is the first municipal team of social workers in Quebec. Every day, they de-escalate conflicts and support vulnerable people in public places. This Montreal-specific initiative is a great success and will be expanded!”

—Valérie Plante

The team, which is currently 32 strong, with a budget of $2.6-million, operates in four Montreal boroughs, namely Ville-Marie, le Sud-Ouest, the Plateau-Mont-Royal and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. A new pilot project will extend its hours to 24/7 — initially, EMMIS was available from 9 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday.

City of Montreal intervention team of social workers to get $50M budget boost

Plante also explained the part of the success of the pilot project has been “promoting social cohabitation with the population and merchants,” which has been part of the impetus for deploying the service to the entire territory city over the next five years.


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