Sun Youth tells clients 'not to worry' as eviction becomes more likely

It's looking more likely that Sun Youth, the community institution that has called a brick building on St-Urbain Street home for 36 years, will have to move.

It currently occupies a building in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood that's owned by the Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM), the city's largest school board, but the board has notified Sun Youth that it has has 18 to 36 months to find a new home.

"It was a little bit disappointing we couldn't come to an agreement on figuring out how to co-habitate, but … we understand the needs they have and where they're headed as a school board," Ernest Rosa, the director of property management at Sun Youth, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

"For them, it's a sensible thing to do. It's their building, they own it."

A document presented at a board meeting Wednesday night confirms the CSDM is planning to ask for the building back. The school board needs the extra space to deal with an influx of students.

The board's plan still has to be approved by the province's Education Ministry. There is no set timeline, but if all goes according to that plan, the building could be welcoming students by the 2020-2021 school year.

Rosa said clients who dropped by to get their Christmas baskets Wednesday seemed to be anxious about the impending move. But the organization is feeling confident about the situation.

"One of the messages we're going to have to get out to our clients is not to worry," he said. "We will find a place, we will make is as easy as possible to get us, our services are going to continue."

A new home?

Sun Youth wants to stay in the neighbourhood due to its central location but also for sentimental reasons, said Rosa.

"We've always been in the Plateau. The roots are here," he said.

The challenge will be to find something affordable in the area. The organization has inquired about space at the nearby building that used to house Hôtel-Dieu Hospital.

Patients there were moved to the new French superhospital in November.

Rosa said the city has also shown a willingness to help out as well.