Old news story: a question
I was looking up an old blog post when I reread this 2019 one about China buying the old Shriners hospital at 1529 Cedar for a consulate.
Looking on Google Maps the building is not labelled as a consulate, and looking up China consulate Montreal I find one address at Lasalle College on Ste‑Catherine, and another in 2100 University. Nothing on Cedar.
Wonder what the story is.
dhomas 07:45 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
According to Montreal tax records, it has been owned by “THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN MONTREAL” since 2019. The owners’ address is 2100 Ste-Catherine O., which is the official address of China’s consulate in Montreal:
https://montreal.china-consulate.gov.cn/fra/zlgxx/
The information from consulate-montreal.com must be outdated (especially since University street at that level no longer exists, having been renamed Robert-Bourassa about 10 years ago).
It looks like some urbex folk took some photos between 2 years ago and 10 months showing that the site is currently abandoned, inside and out. The photos can be seen in the Google Maps photos section of 1529 Cedar avenue.
The site is “patrimoine”:
https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=108860&type=bien
So, the Chinese Consulate might be playing the long game and allowing it to become a hazard so they can raze it, as we’ve seen so many other before. Then, they can build a new consulate on that site. The location is quite nice, even if the building is not suited to consular use.
Kate 08:23 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
I don’t know the actual terms, but the city does place limits on what you can build on Mount Royal. It may be futile to wait for the building to crumble so they can construct something new.
Thanks for finding out the facts, dhomas.
bob 10:53 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
I think it also faces some extra problems in renovations because beyond the heritage thing, they can’t just plaster, paint, and buy new furniture. It needs to be a secure building for all the sneaky spy stuff governments do. And even if it crumbles, building something there, because it is subject to these extra mountain things, might get the plans more scrutiny than they want. And also, China-Canada relations over the last 6 years have been pretty abysmal, and Montreal’s Chinese population is not huge, so they may not feel the need for such a large mission away from the capital.
According to TVA they bought it for $17.5 million in 2019, so it’s interesting that this dilapidated property’s municipal evaluation for tax purposes is currently $32.6 million. They’ve refused to pay those taxes, citing diplomatic immunity. I don’t know what the market value is, though I assume the encumbrances bring it down, but that’s about a year over year increase of 15%. So merely by acquiring and holding on to the property, they have fulfilled Chairman Mao’s famous dictum of “Don’t wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait.”.
Kate 22:07 on 2026-08-03 Permalink
I think you got a bum copy of the Little Red Book, bob.