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A homeless shelter where people can drink alcohol under medical supervision is slated to open next spring, and experts say it could save lives.

The Montreal Gazette has learned that the city and Quebec’s health ministry will fund at least one “wet shelter” by April or May. Unlike traditional shelters, the facility would allow men and women to consume alcohol on site while nurses watch over them.

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Many of the 3,000 Montrealers who sleep on the streets every night do so because they don’t want to experience alcohol withdrawal — a condition that can trigger seizures.

“This is excellent news,” said Serge Lareault, the city’s homelessness advocate. “We’ve been working on getting a wet shelter in Montreal for two years and we’ll see one and maybe even two points of service in Montreal starting April or May.

The facility is part of a $5.45-million partnership between Montreal and Quebec’s ministry of health and social services to fight homelessness in the city. Lareault says different organizations will present a plan for a wet shelter in the coming months and a municipal commission will decide which of them to fund early next year.