MONTREAL -- Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating after receiving a call about a man who'd been stabbed several times in the upper body in the Villeray area. 

According to preliminary information, an altercation took place between the victim and a suspect on des Ecores St. When police arrived just before 4 a.m., the victim would not tell them what happened. 

The man, 23, was taken to hospital in a "serious condition," according to police. In at 8 a.m. update, the force said the man's life was not in danger. 

"So at this moment we don't know exactly what caused the altercation -- is it just a conflict? Something related to drugs? It's still to be determined at the moment," said SPVM spokesperson Raphael Bergeron. 

A perimeter has been erected at the scene for investigators to better understand the circumstances surrounding the event.