Over a dozen community groups refuse to leave Montreal centre despite eviction order

More than a dozen groups have refused to vacate a community centre in Montreal's Ahuntsic neighbourhood despite an eviction order from their landlord, Quebec's largest school service centre.

The community groups were supposed to clear out by 5 p.m. Friday, but there were no moving trucks in sight.

Rémy Robitaille, director of Solidarité Ahuntsic, which represents the 13 groups in the building, said they haven't budged because they simply don't have anywhere else to go.

Robitaille said the organizations provide vital services for immigrants, refugees and seniors, as well as food bank services and French language classes for newcomers — a total of 25,000 people each year. It will take an emergency eviction order from a judge to expel the 13 groups, which he said they would contest in court.

"Who will give those services?" he said Friday. "We expect a reaction from the government."

The Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, which owns the building, said it has rented out the space to organizations serving the community but now needs the building to provide urgently needed French language courses for newcomers.

It added that it needs to relocate French language services offered at William-Hingston Centre in Parc-Extension, another neighbourhood farther east, because of renovations to that building.

“In order to fulfil our primary mission of providing schooling, and to avoid a disruption in services in the absence of another real estate solution to accommodate all our students, we must regain full possession of the building,” the CSSDM said in a statement.

It also accused Solidarité Ahuntsic of refusing to sign a lease since 2018.

Robitaille responded by saying the CSSDM raised the monthly rent for the whole building from about $8,000 to $24,000 — an increase the community groups have refused to pay.

Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough Mayor Émilie Thuillier said she has tried to help them find another location over the past year, with no luck.

Thuillier, Ahuntsic-Cartierville MP Mélanie Joly and other elected officials have called on the Quebec government to allow the 13 organizations to stay in the building for five more years.

"The services they offer to the residents of the riding are essential to ensuring the social safety net of the sector. In a context of inflation, food insecurity and housing crisis, many citizens resort to the assistance offered by these resources," Joly said in a press release in May.

“What we're saying to the government is that we want five years more so that the 13 organizations can stay in the building while we are constructing another one,” Thuillier said, explaining that the borough has already identified a new location suitable for a community centre nearby but it will not be ready to house the organizations for a few years.

In the meantime, the mayor is asking the provincial government to give the CSSDM more funding so that it can rent spaces elsewhere for its French courses.

Thuillier added that French language classes are currently offered in the building but that its state of disrepair means there will be a three-to four-year wait for those courses if the school service centre does take over.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2024.