Every year, my foodie group and I, volunteer at Moisson Montreal by giving some of our time and…read morehelping out with general tasks around the warehouse. This year, 27 of us, spent our afternoon sorting through goods and boxing up cans to be distributed to over 230 local food banks. Moisson Montreal is Canada's biggest food bank and basically collect goods from supermarkets and through donations to redistribute to the local community. They are one of the top 10 charities in Canada for being able to multiply their donations, meaning for every dollar received they give back 15$ in donations; that's huge! They have a very welcoming and friendly staff, and they always make my volunteering experience fun and rewarding. Can't wait to do it again!

CLC is an excellent language school that I want to return to! Montreal is so close to Vermont where…read moreI live. It's the obvious locale for studying French, but which school? I highly recommend CLC. Every CLC instructor I had was dynamic, expert at teaching, kind, full of humor, and very attentive to each student. I was stunned by the specificity of the feedback they provided about my progress. And I did progress. I can only imagine if I'd been able to stay two months instead of two weeks. My classmates' French seemed at a compatible level with mine, and we quite naturally supported each other. Our teachers' guidance got us sharing from the heart about our lives and world views, all in the language we were learning. I already miss my new friends. I took the Intensive 25. Starting at 10 a.m., I had three 45-minute classes, each with a different teacher. They were energetic, tuned in to everything and everyone, and never boring. When the 2nd or 3rd teacher of the day came in, they would often pick up on what we'd been working on with the previous teacher. This is a superb level or organization and internal communication. Three afternoons per week, I had a 1-hour private lesson. The Intensive 25 includes fun afternoon activities. I attended French Tea Time to practice my French (with yummy donated tea from David's) and had fun at English Tea Time, too, helping English learners practice. The Intensive 25 is the program I would take again. I will most likely continue my studies with a CLC video class, too. I want to build on the gains I made here!

The CLC is more than just a language school. In addition to offering language courses it also…read moreoffers the community language practice sessions and hosts monthly Festive Fridays which are open to everyone. I never took a class here but I have been to multiple Festive Fridays and practice sessions so I will cover that in this review. The concept behind their language practice sessions, or "Tea Time" as they call it is simple. You can either pay $2 or contribute a box of cookies to be enjoyed while you sit around with the others and practice a language in a casual and relaxed setting. They offer Tea Times in English, French, Japanese and Spanish. For a while I was a regular at French Tea Time because I found it helpful. They always had volunteers on hand who spoke the language either as their mother tongue or fluently so you always had experienced people to practice with. I even volunteered at the English tea time to help others work on their English. In fact the only reason I stopped going was because I ended up getting a new job and my work schedule didn't mesh well with the Tea Time schedule. That is the one downside to this program. It runs from 4 to 6 so if you work a 9 to 5 job you can't make it. Once a month the school also hosts Festive Fridays. These are events designed to introduce the students as well as anyone else who comes by to food from another culture. If you are a student admission is free but for anyone else you have to pay a small fee of $5. Each event centers around a certain food from a particular culture. I have been to taco nights, takoyaki nights and crepe nights. All were quite fun and the atmosphere was indeed festive. This is a great community-oriented school. While I can't speak for the quality of the classes I highly recommend checking out the Tea Time or Festive Fridays. Both are excellent opportunities to work on your language skills and get to know more about the school.

I love it here, I'm so happy to see a quiet little spot of green space so meaningfully lit up each…read moreweekend with music and ping pong tables and free classes all the time bringing together kids and adults. The rotation of food trucks and vendors lends a sweet element of the unexpected and the beers and cocktails are affordable. The wooden lounge bed things are a beautiful design made for relaxing and bringing conversations together, and little things like the sign urging people to respect the trees warm my heart.

Vegan Co-op with great food and awesome people! We were lucky to have a friend in Montreal show us…read morethis place, because we would have never discovered it on our own. It made my traveling vegetarian heart very warm and happy :)

One of the original coffeehouses making a home for folk music in Canada, the Yellow Door is a tiny…read moreepicenter of goodness in the McGill ghetto. In addition to the music venue in the basement, the Yellow Door is home to multi-faith advisory and free zen meditation, and the Generations Project which supports seniors in Montreal's downtown through volunteerism and social activities. Huge heart.

This is basically a soup kitchen for people with low income. A full meal (salad, soup, main with…read moretwo sides, dessert, drink) is $4, and there is an option to pay $6 to support the mission. I always choose to do that! For the price, the food is decent. They have options for meat, fish and vegetrian meals. The menu changes daily and you can find the rotating 5-weeks plan on their web page. I would probably not find myself here if I didn't see their sign in front of metro Mont-Royal and if I didn't live 100 m away, but I think coming here for lunch every now and then is the best way to show support. When I really don't feel like cooking lunch, and also don't feel like spending much more on a restaurant I come here. Yes, most of the people here are probably homeless, but this place give them a sense of normality, a place they can go to and get a nutritious and affordable meal (it's probably cheaper than cooking yourself!), be with other people, and just feel integrated instead of excluded. They also provide cooking training to disadvantaged people in order to integrate them into a skilled profession. I highly support this cause and urge you to become supporters as well!

I love the staff and mission of the Old Brewery Mission. They address chronic homelessness both for…read moremen and women, provide a 24/7 emergency response hotline and (during non-pandemic times) serve community building suppers and do loads more, but most admirably in my view is that their focus is on ending chronic homelessness. They help people rebuild their lives, and they emphasize access to permanent homes rather than temporary shelters. Respect for the people they serve is paramount. They also put a major emphasis on research and they are in the best possible position to bring insights from the realities of homelessness into meaningful policy and effective social change. Right now they are gathering donations of protective equipment for their frontlines workers and financial donations to support people working in the face of this overwhelming crisis. These are real actual hidden heroes in our town and deserving of all our love and support.

I can say with certitude that the workers at the Old Mission Brewery have one of the most important…read moremission in the world. They have an incredibly big heart and make a real difference in human beings' lives who have been dealt a very hard hand. To give around 110$ of non perishable good was one of the best experience of my life. Thank you for your amazing work Old Mission Brewery!

Magasin spécialisé dans les produits importés d'Italie, Friends4Cause a surtout une vocation de…read moresoutien à des associations d'enfants et de jeunes autistes et propose un service de confection de paniers cadeaux. Des belles verrines d'antipasti, des pâtes, des biscuits et du chocolat, il a vraiment de quoi gâter nos amis. Le personnel est vraiment super accueillant et même les jours de pluie il doit communiquer sa bonne humeur avec son grand sourire chaleureux!

Musiprof quickly connected us with a qualified teacher who has been a joy to work with. Nick is a…read moregreat teacher who is very patient and encouraging and can tailor his lessons to children and adults alike. On the admin side, Elijah has been reliable and prompt with follow-up, and the payment method is simple and easy. A great way to find music lessons in Montreal!