Quartier Latin businesses seek help after intersection closure due to construction
Posted January 15, 2025 5:54 pm.
Last Updated January 15, 2025 9:39 pm.
Certain business owners in Montreal’s Quartier Latin are asking for compensation after the city of Montreal closed the intersection at St-Denis and Ontario streets for construction work to repair an aging sewer collector.
The construction is expected to last at least two weeks.
“We don’t have any cars, no tourists,” said Martin Guimond, owner of Le Saint-Bock. “Nobody can come here by car, so no parking, no nothing. The next two, three weeks will probably be the worst ever.”

“We never knew before the 8th of January that the intersection would be closed,” said Julien Vaillancourt Laliberté, executive director of SDC Quartier Latin. “So, before that, the cars, the trucks, the delivery, the garbage could come in and now, no way. So not even a week before the full closure, we had no clue it was going to happen.”

Guimond says that this construction has made business even worse during the winter.
He adds that he had to fire 24 employees on Monday and is only open three days a week to minimize losses on a property that he pays $38,000 month for in rent and fees.
“We need help,” said Guimond. “I know Montreal doesn’t want to help us because they said it’s not big enough to get some help, but actually, I have to pay my rent and I have to stay alive.”

The SDC Quartier Latin says that businesses need compensation because it’s much more difficult for customers to access the area by vehicle.
“You can’t come into Quartier Latin by the north, by the east, or by the west, which is very difficult,” said Laliberté. “We’ve been requesting compensation since October for major work and we’re not recognized for that major work. I don’t know what that looks like, but for me, that’s major.”
The city of Montreal does offer financial assistance to businesses impacted by major construction work, but it must last for a minimum of six months.
In a written statement to CityNews, Ville-Marie city councillor Robert Beaudry said that there needs to be a review in the procedure of how certain construction work is communicated and that there will be changes in how this type of construction work is communicated in advance to give businesses more predictability. The statement did not address whether the city of Montreal would consider giving businesses compensation.
The leader of the official opposition at Montreal city hall, Aref Salem, also reacted in a written statement telling CityNews:
“It’s the same thing every time: where Projet Montréal is, there are problems. Beyond the lack of listening and support, it’s very worrying to note that Projet Montréal deliberately parcels out its worksites in the Quartier Latin to prevent merchants from benefiting from the financial assistance to which they are entitled.
“Moreover, we have it on good authority that they are planning to pedestrianize Sainte-Catherine Street in the Village year-round, without properly consulting the local SDC. We must put an end to this neglect and support those who bring Montreal to life.”
“Quartier Latin, it’s one of the most famous quartiers in Montreal ever,” said Guimond.
“If we don’t want to see the Quartier Latin in the future have only chain restaurants and fast food, and you want to keep all the good character of the city, we need help. Because all the small restaurateurs, all the small retailers like me, we will probably not be there if the construction continues for a long time. We need help now.”