Here's some good news for you as we head into the weekend before Christmas.

The old Royal Victoria Hospital, located just north of McGill University on the southern slope of Mount Royal in Montreal, will become a "temporary" winter shelter for homeless people and their pets starting in January 2019.

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TL;DR Officials in Montreal have decided to open a temporary pet-friendly shelter for homeless people in the old Royal Victoria Hospital.

According to the CBC, the shelter will serve as additional space as other shelters in the city become full.

There will be in total eighty spaces available to all genders.

The hospital has been vacant since most of its facilities moved to the new McGill University Health Centre west of downtown Montreal.

Earlier this year, officials decided to sell the hospital campus to McGill, which will repurpose the iconic structure into office and public gathering space.

Via Decasult

In the meantime, the news that the space will become a temporary shelter for both humans and animals will likely be met with universal praise.

During Montreal's cold winter, homeless people and their pets are in particular danger and temperatures plummet to deadly lows.

This issue made headlines last month after a homeless man and his dog attempted to enter a Montreal metro station after hours. After officers refused them entry, the dog died from expose to freezing temperatures.

According to the Montreal Gazette, there is currently only one shelter in the city that accepts dogs.

The temporary addition of a another pet-friendly shelter at the Royal Victoria Hospital will hopefully prevent similar tragedies.

But the municipal, provincial, and federal governments will need to do much more to guarantee that everyone in the city has access to permanent shelter.

According to CTV, there may be up to 12,000 homless people in the city every year.

Stay tuned.

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