Half of the Chinatown population of 2,500 have signed a petition against transforming a heritage building into long‑term housing for the homeless. There’s concern that such a project would bring even more homeless people to the small enclave than it already attracts.
Updates from January, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The mayor has spoken about her concerns for the homeless with a deep freeze expected on the weekend. Metro constables have been instructed to be more tolerant of loiterers, and more warming stations are being added.
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Kate
In an effort to save money, the city has been using cut‑price chemicals in the east‑end wastewater treatment plant, leading to rising complaints about the bad smell around the plant.
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Kate
I missed this one a few days ago: the future of the Falaise nature park in NDG is uncertain, with the budgeted money falling, while the city claims it still needs land from Quebec.
dwgs
I walk the falaise regularly and I’d just as soon the city doesn’t get involved, it’s fine the way it is. Also, it’s pretty rich that McQueen is “very disappointed” since this has been talked about for a long time and his party was in power for 8 years without accomplishing anything. Over 15 years with him as our city councillor and nothing seems to get done although he is very good at showing up at public events and pressing the flesh.
James
Don’t know why they say that people don’t have access to the park. There are two very nice accesses at either end. The middle one leaves a lot to be desired. The city did recently demolish the building at 6344 St-Jacques to eventually build a proper middle entrance.
The only issue outstanding is the “dalle parc” issue to cross the railway tracks and the highway. Everything else can go ahead.Andrew Aitken
It’s a bit misleading to only talk about the falaise area. The biggest part of the project they announced was the land between the highway and Notre-Dame. I assume that’s the issue with the province, most of it is still asphalt from where highway 20 used to be. If they complete the new overpass/dalle parc, it would be a huge green space all the way from St-Jacques to the Lachine Canal
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Kate
Rosemont borough is planning to open the old Piscine St‑Denis building – out of commission for its original purpose for a year – as a warming station for the homeless. Borough mayor François Limoges is clearly braced for push‑back from denizens of Plaza St‑Hubert.
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Kate
Quebec’s toponymy commission has added a dozen new names to the map, including Place du Pain‑et‑des‑Roses in eastern Ville‑Marie.
Ephraim
Still nothing after Ezekiel Hart except for a plaque in Trois Rivieres in a park named after Champlain.. Still think it’s a shame.
Taylor C. Noakes
That is a shame, I just wrote about him for the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Kate
Nothing for Blanche Lemco either.
CE
I’m surprised MU hasn’t commissioned a mural in honour of Blanche as part of its Bâtisseur.e.s culturel.le.s de Montréal series. A good artist could make a very interesting mural incorporating her portrait, modern architecture, Expo 67, the preservation of Old Montreal, etc.
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Kate
The Jacques-Cartier bridge is closed because of a massive fire in an empty building on de Lorimier near the access road.
CTV has a backgrounder on the building’s history.
3:30, the southbound side of the bridge is partly open. Interesting details on radio news about firefighters having to work to keep billboards from collapsing onto the bridge.
Blork
Sadly, the burning building is this one (Streetview: https://maps.app.goo.gl/cdtG6iDDLtSUhQmi7 ) which is the old building that famously forced the Jacques-Cartier Bridge to deke around it after the owner refused to sell or be expropriated. (That’s why there’s a bend to the left as you’re crossing the bridge and coming into the city.)
CE 12:14 on 2026-01-22 Permalink
I walk through Chinatown quite often, especially in the summer. During the summer of 2024, there was a temporary shelter in the old Y and it was a very difficult time in Chinatown. The area around Complexe Guy-Favreau was particularly bleak but would spill out onto the pedestrianized part of de la Gauchetière. Almost every time I went, at least one person would be pretty aggressive to me or people with me and the sound of screaming and yelling was nearly constant. One day there were tents set up right in the middle of the street between Complexe Guy-Favreau and the Palais des congrès. Cars were having to drive on the sidewalk to get around them. 2025 was much calmer, I can see why the residents wouldn’t want a return to 2024, especially with a project that would make the issues permanent (especially if you look at what has happened to Vancouver’s Chinatown over the last few years).
Joey 12:56 on 2026-01-22 Permalink
If this is the same project we discussed a few months ago, the opposition is unwarranted.
Kate 18:59 on 2026-01-22 Permalink
Joey, it’s the same project – we discussed it here.
I think the residents may be a bit shell‑shocked by the influx of homeless CE describes, and they also may be fearing the project could create the kind of situation we’ve seen with the Maison Benoît Labre in St‑Henri. But that location is a safe drug consumption site. If the new project is meant to offer permanent housing, it would be a different situation.
dhomas 16:58 on 2026-01-23 Permalink
They don’t like people being homeless in Chinatown. So they are against giving those people homes, so they’re no longer homeless?