In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the assistance network of Quebec was mainly private and confessional. As a result of this, Montreal did not have a public institution devoted to caring for the poor unlike other large cities of North America. However, starting in the first decades of the 19th century, many influential inhabitants of Montreal demanded that a public homeless shelter be built to accommodate the growing number of vagabonds in the city. This did not occur until 1914 when the municipal authorities built the Meurling Municipal Refuge. For the reformers of the time, this institution was more than another refuge for the homeless. It was regarded as an instrument that would help put an end to the problem of homelessness in Montreal. The history of the Meurling Municipal Refuge reveals the perception of homelessness that prevailed in Quebec society in the early 20th century, the role the municipal leaders played in helping the poor, as well as the different ways homeless people used the resources available to them.