Place Émilie-Gamelin

At the crossroads of Berri and Sainte-Catherine, Place Émilie-Gamelin is one of Montreal’s most charged public spaces—a green slope above the Berri-UQAM metro station that’s seen just about everything: protests, community meals, summer festivals, and long nights on the street. Once home to the Sisters of Providence and their refuge for the poor, the square has carried that legacy of care and conflict for nearly two centuries. Today, it shifts with the seasons—becoming Jardins Gamelin in summer with concerts and gardens, and hosting Noël dans le Parc or winter slides come snow. Both a gathering place and a mirror of the city’s social divides, it remains a space where Montreal’s ideals of openness and inclusion are constantly tested in real time.