13 Montreal organizations in Ahuntsic-Cartierville refusing eviction order

Thirteen community organizations in Montreal's Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough had until 5 p.m. Friday to vacate their long-time home, but they refuse to pack up.

Instead, they're fighting the eviction, which was ordered by the building's owner, the Centre de services scolaires de Montréal (CSSDM). The school service centre has been renting the space to the organizations for about 20 years, but now plans to use the property for a French-language learning centre

Among the groups being evicted is Service de nutrition et d'action communautaire (SNAC), which offered food assistance to 1,970 households over the last year, feeding nearly 4,000 people from their location in the Centre communautaire d'Ahuntsic on Laverdure Street.

There is also an organization that supports people dealing with addiction, homelessness and mental health issues. There's a daycare and Rue Action Prévention Jeunesse, a youth advocacy group, as well. There's even a francisation centre already on site, offering French-language classes.

There are services for seniors, a meals-on-wheels program and educational services, too, said Rémy Robitaille, head of Solidarité Ahuntsic, the council representing the groups getting evicted.

"We won't move from here, even if they told us to move at 5 p.m. tonight," he said, noting the community groups are challenging the eviction in court.

The organizations say they have nowhere to relocate after months of struggling to find something affordable.

CSSDM says council refused to sign lease

The landlord, the CSSDM, said in a statement Friday that it is facing a sustained increase in educational needs in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville sector, particularly for francisation programs offered in adult education.

At the same time, the Complexe William-Hingston, which houses the CSSDM's current francisation centre, is being renovated and the the programming there needs to be relocated to the Centre communautaire d'Ahuntsic, the statement said. 

"To fulfil our primary mission of providing education and to avoid a service disruption in the absence of any other facility capable of accommodating all our students, we are compelled to reclaim full possession of the building," it said.

Given Solidarité Ahuntsic's repeated refusals, since 2018, to sign a lease with the CSSDM, the organizations are currently occupying the premises under a month-to-month tolerance lease, the statement added. The eviction is a lawful step, the CSSDM said, and legal proceedings are ongoing.

The council has refused rent increases for six years while the school service centre continues to pay electricity, heat and maintenance, it said.

Several politicians have condemned the decision to force the groups out, including Québec solidaire MNA Haroun Bouazzi, who represents the Maurice-Richard riding, which includes parts of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Montréal-Nord.

Bouazzi has called the eviction a disaster for the neighbourhood's social and community safety net, noting that 25,000 people rely on the organizations' services each year.  

Bouazzi is urging the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government to intervene and grant a reprieve. He has been lobbying for the government to delay the eviction since the spring.

Along with a petition, he submitted a detailed demand to the government, explaining the urgency of the situation, but said the only response he got was one deferring responsibility to the CSSDM.

The CSSDM argues the eviction is necessary to provide French courses, but Bouazzi points out that French-language programming is already available there.

3-year eviction delay needed

Efforts to delay the eviction for three years have been supported by Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough mayor Émilie Thuillier and federal MP Mélanie Joly, who represents the riding of Ahuntsic-Cartierville.

The three-year reprieve would allow the organizations to relocate to a new facility in the Écoquartier Louvain, a social development planned for the borough but for which construction has not begun. The development, which will include 800 to 1,000 housing units, is expected to accommodate co-operatives and a shared space for community groups as well.  

"All the community organizations will have a place together in the new centre, but we need time to build it," Thuillier said. 

In the meantime, officials are urging the Quebec government to give the CSSDM more funds so it can find more suitable premises for the francisation centre it wants to create.

Bouazzi said the building is very old and that, before it can be used as a learning centre, it would need extensive renovations that would take four years — longer than the community groups need to relocate. 

"I have a hard time thinking that this government will destroy the social mesh we have here," he said. "I am sure that what they want is noble and positive, but now that we understand the consequences, we have to stop this madness."

Ministry declines to intervene

Robitaille noted that the groups' trouble with their landlord began in 2022, when the CSSDM increased their rent by 200 per cent. The organizations attempted to refuse the rent increase, but the CSSDM threatened to sell the building.

When the organizations offered to buy it, the service centre instead opted to retake it for educational purposes.

Robitaille said it's not clear to him why the CSSDM wants to evict the organizations so soon.

"It's strange they want to remove the francisation courses that we already give to around 400 people a year," he said, noting the renovations to get the building up to code will be costly, but the government has been cutting back on subsidies for French-language classes.

The Ministry of Education issued a statement Friday afternoon, saying the CSSDM owns the building and is responsible for its use, including surplus properties. 

"If the CSSDM needs the space for students, the educational mission must always take priority," the ministry said.