MONTREAL — A fire tore through a historic former church in southwestern Montreal early Monday morning, with the flames spreading to the old rectory, which had been converted to a seniors residence.
Officials said the fire started around 1:40 a.m., with 73 people who lived in the residence forced to evacuate. In total, officials evacuated 148 people because of the fire. There were no reported injuries.
However, the fire destroyed a local food bank that used to operate out of the former church.
Food bank director Roger Mpemudjir Kilanga said he was in the building’s basement when the fire broke out at the former Saint-Paul Church in the city’s Sud-Ouest borough. ”I thought (the fire) would pass quickly, but I saw that the flames were so intense, I couldn’t stay there; it was too hard to see, I left,” he said in an interview.
Operating at the church since 2013, the food bank will need to find a new location for the roughly 200 families it serves every Friday.
Mpemudjir Kilanga had to break the news to his volunteers: ”Everyone was crying. I told them to stop crying because I didn’t want them to make me cry too.”
He said he was already answering phone calls from people asking about whether his group will distribute food on Friday. ”This week won’t be possible, but maybe next Friday we’ll be able to offer our food baskets,” said Mpemudjir Kilanga.
He had recently purchased new commercial refrigerators to respond to the growing demand for his services, but they were likely destroyed. ”We started with a small refrigerator, and yesterday, we had almost everything, but today we don’t even have a spoon, not even a knife.”
For the time being, he said, his efforts are focused on finding a new location. ”We don’t know yet where we will relocate,” said Mpemudjir Kilanga.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, borough mayor Véronique Fournier said she would get in touch with the organization to find ”possible solutions, at least in the short term, to ensure that a service offering is doable.”
The church was built between 1910 and 1911 and is recognized by Quebec for its architectural and historical significance.
It is part of the patrimonial site of Côte-Saint-Paul, which is ”a group of buildings that have institutional, religious, and historical value, and ultimately bear witness to the first cities, or suburban neighbourhoods, during the industrialization of the Lachine Canal,” said Fournier. The historic 14-kilometre canal runs through the southwest part of Montreal and is now popular for walking and cycling.
The Diocese of Montreal, which represents the Catholic churches of greater Montreal, confirmed on social media that ”the church has been vacant for several years, with no Catholic celebrations taking place during that time.”
”Many people have told us that they got married there, or had their children baptized, a lot of people had links with the church,” said Fournier.
According to the provincial government’s cultural heritage directory, the church was designed by Montreal architect Joseph-Arthur Godin, who was known for his innovative use of concrete.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and firefighters were still at the scene on Monday afternoon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2026.
The Canadian Press
