The Montreal Jewish Museum will receive more than $3.2 million from Ottawa to renovate its building at 5220 St. Laurent Boulevard, creating space for exhibitions, cultural events, workshops and a café. Outremont MP Rachel Bendayan and museum executive director Zev Moses announced the funding Thursday, October 15, through the federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program.
The federal contribution of $3,234,476 will be combined with $1,625,000 from the museum and other funding sources. Plans call for an event space, café and gift shop on the ground floor, a gallery for exhibitions and screenings on the second, and a food lab, creative workshops and administrative space on the third. The announcement did not specify a reopening date.
The project has its beginnings in Moses’ curiosity about a former synagogue near his Plateau apartment. Trained in city planning and urban design, he wanted to know who had worshipped there and what the building had been, but found little information online. That search grew into an effort to map the institutions, businesses and people that had shaped Jewish Montreal, leading to the launch of the Interactive Museum of Jewish Montreal in 2010.
One of its earliest projects brought back the sound of the city’s synagogues. In February 2013, Moses and his collaborators launched the museum’s first themed mobile tour, exploring Montreal’s cantorial tradition through rare recordings. Visitors could hear voices from decades earlier while learning about the places where those cantors had served. Moses told Tablet at the time that he feared Montreal’s Jewish history would eventually be remembered only through bagels and Leonard Cohen.
That cantorial history was once a major part of the neighbourhood’s cultural life. B’nai Jacob on Fairmount Avenue attracted celebrated cantors from abroad and became known as the “Carnegie Hall” of Jewish music. When the congregation moved west in the 1960s, Collège Français took over the building, one of many former Jewish institutions whose original purpose became less apparent as the neighbourhood changed.
The museum expanded from its online maps and recordings into walking tours, temporary exhibitions and, in 2016, its first storefront on St. Laurent Boulevard. Exhibitions, food tours and cultural programming followed, along with research fellowships, artist residencies and grants supporting new work connected to Jewish life.
The building now being renovated carries its own Jewish history. Built in 1914 as a garment factory, it also housed a synagogue and a Jewish school, later becoming home to Le Lux restaurant and bar between 1984 and 1996. The renovation will make the entire building accessible to visitors.
Meanwhile, the museum welcomes visitors at the former H. Fisher & Fils sewing supply shop at 4129 St. Laurent Boulevard. Original equipment, store inventory and recorded interviews with longtime proprietor Esther Fisher tell the story of a business that served Montreal’s garment industry for generations, connecting the history of Jewish immigration to the everyday work that helped build the community.
Guided visits to H. Fisher & Fils are available in English and French, Thursday through Sunday, with tours departing every 45 minutes from 10:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Admission is $8, including taxes and booking fees.
Visitors can reserve a spot through the museum’s website, call 514-840-9300 or email info@imjm.ca for more information. Walk-ins are welcome when space permits.
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