13 Montreal organizations are facing eviction, but Ottawa just offered to save them

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 2:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Thirteen assemblage organizations are presently facing eviction successful Montreal's Ahunstic-Cartierville borough, but connected Saturday, the cards were reshuffled and those groups were offered a glimmer of hope.

Mélanie Joly, Canada's curate of overseas affairs, announced a $15 cardinal concern to relocate the groups presently housed astatine the Ahunstic Community Centre. 

The centre is located successful Joly's riding. She's been an MP determination since 2015 and plans to tally again as a Liberal campaigner successful the national predetermination that was called connected Sunday.

"There's been a telephone for help from the assemblage assemblage present for a agelong time," she told reporters on Saturday.

The organizations volition determination to the Écoquartier Louvain, a caller residential neighbourhood to beryllium built successful the aforesaid borough that's expected to include 1,000 affordable lodging units.

For months, the 13 groups had been threatened with eviction by the Centre de services scolaires de Montréal (CSSDM), the province's largest schoolhouse work centre, which plans to transform the space they've occupied for astir 20 years into a French-language learning centre.

The organizations were asked to battalion up connected Dec. 27, but refused to budge. 

Although the eviction lawsuit is earlier the courts, Joly said she would enactment with the Quebec authorities and the CSSDM to guarantee that the organizations tin proceed to enactment astatine the centre until the caller gathering is built.

Among the organizations being evicted is the Service de nutrition et d'action communautaire (SNAC), which offered nutrient assistance to 1,970 households implicit the past year, feeding astir 4,000 radical from their determination wrong the centre.

The centre's offering is wide-ranging: it has a daycare, a younker advocacy group, services for seniors, assistance for people dealing with homelessness and addiction arsenic good as a meals-on-wheels program.

There's even a francization centre already on tract that's offering French-language classes.

In December, with the CSSDM's deadline hanging implicit their heads, the organizations reported that they had obscurity to relocate aft struggling for months to find an affordable place.

Joly explained that it's "always a challenge" for the national authorities to financially enactment assemblage centres, arsenic decisions are usually made astatine the municipal and provincials levels.

"But this task is besides portion of the instauration of a caller neighbourhood with respective affordable lodging units," said Joly. 

"I deliberation this volition beryllium a fantastic spot wherever Montrealers volition beryllium capable to thrive."