Montreal housing crisis: Artists turn part of abandoned building into ‘condo’

Part of an abandoned building in Montreal is redesigned to look like a condo. (Laurence Brisson-Dubreuil/CTV News)

In an abandoned industrial building steps away from the Lachine Canal, tucked away behind wooden planks, is a room designed like a condo.

But, unlike actual homes in Montreal, the space is an art installation meant to denounce the city’s housing crisis.

Artists Marc-Antoine Goyette and Gabriel Lacombe spent four years completing the project.

The pair describe the installation as a “luxury squat for wealthy punks.”

“This problem isn’t with homeowners,” said Goyette. ”It’s about people living who own multiple properties and who live off of the needs of others.”

The project is housed inside a 300,000-square-foot building—a former factory, then a storage space, abandoned since 2013 and now owned by the City of Montreal.

In 2021, following a contest calling for project proposals, it was announced that the site would be redeveloped.

“[Montreal officials] are in discussions to finalize the transaction with Sid Lee Architecture,” a city spokesperson told CTV News. “The project will begin when the company takes ownership of the building.”

Meanwhile, the city says it regularly intervenes to secure the building, citing dangers such as mould, asbestos and risks of structural collapse.

Navigating blocked off entrances and dangerous sections of the property were part of the added challenges, said Lacombe.

“One of the hardest parts was figuring out how to bring everything in,” he added. “From paint buckets to all types of construction equipment and, finally, the furniture.”

The project was funded through a $25,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts—an irony not lost on Goyette.

“How can the city destroy the installation now that it was made possible through public money?” he said.

To illustrate the severity of the housing crisis, the artists listed the room for rent online for $400 a month.

Even without running water or appliances, the demand was there.

“We received more than 200 messages in less than six hours,” he recalls.

Since the installation went public in January, graffiti has covered its walls—an evolution that Lacombe sees as part of the artistic statement.

“The performance aspect of the piece is just as important,” he said. “It’s also about creating awareness that makes people interact and react to the art itself.”

The artists say the space is being used by different individuals.

Goyette pointed to a broom in the corner and newly placed candles as signs that those staying there were taking care of the room.

“When we take care of people, it tends to bring out the best in them,” he said. “This space is proof of that.”

While Goyette acknowledges that squatting in abandoned buildings isn’t a long-term solution to the housing crisis, he argues that inaction isn’t either.

“What we’re experiencing right now is not an economic crisis—it’s a social and moral crisis,” he said. “It’s about how resources and power are distributed. That’s what’s at stake here.”