MONTREAL — More than a dozen community groups refused to vacate a community centre in Montreal’s Ahuntsic neighbourhood Friday despite an eviction order, saying they don’t have anywhere else to go.

Rémy Robitaille, director of Solidarité Ahuntsic, which represents the 13 groups in the building, says 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.

Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, which owns the building, says it has rented the space to groups that serve the community but now needs the spaces to provide French language instruction for newcomers.

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

Robitaille says the school service centre raised the monthly rent for the whole building from about $8,000 to $24,000 – an increase the groups have refused to pay, saying they will only leave if forced to by the courts.

Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough Mayor Émilie Thuillier is asking the Quebec government to allow the organizations to stay in place until they can move into a new community centre that will be built nearby in the coming years, and to give the school service centre more funding so it can rent space elsewhere for its French classes.

She adds that people are currently able to receive French language instruction in the building and that its state of disrepair means there will be a three-to four-year wait for those classes if the school service centre does take over.

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

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press