Montreal's West Island black community is planning a new $4 million home for the future

The Western Isles Black Community Association (WIBCA) is celebrating Black History Month this year with the announcement that it will be rebuilding its home from the ground up.

For West Islanders, WIBCA is more than just a building. For the past four decades, Montreal's Pierrefonds-Roxborough neighborhood has become a place where the community gathers, develops relationships and learns.

WIBCA president Joanne Lee says the renewal is long overdue and the number of members participating in events (now at 400) has grown significantly since the pandemic.

“We decided that we needed to make room for the needs of everyone in the community, especially the youth. We needed to have a robotics STEM lab. We needed a space for our black girls' library,” Lee said.

Children from the West Island Black Community Association participate in a robotics program. They won the competition in 2023. (West Island Black Community Association)

“We need space for the Maasai Boys mentoring program and all the other free programs we offer,” Lee said.

The community also offers Saturday morning tutoring, senior fitness classes and a legal clinic.

A girl with a robotics club learns to use new equipment. (West Island Black Community Association)

Due to a lack of space, the WIBCA has been forced to hold its Robotics Club meetings at the Dollard Civic Center in Montreal's Dollard-des-Ormeaux neighborhood.

The project will cost up to $4 million, but the completion date is not yet known. WIBCA has currently secured about a quarter of that amount from private companies and members, but Lee says negotiations for the remaining funds are progressing well.

An experienced hand guides young people to learn new skills. (West Island Black Community Association)

Ashera Ramdhan Page, 16, a member of the book and robotics clubs, says the current size of the building doesn't match the impact it will have on WIBCA members.

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Through robotics meetups held on Saturdays, Ramdhan Page, as well as youth aged eight to 18, have had the opportunity to hone their engineering, welding, woodworking and coding skills. Last year, the team won the robotics competition.

Ramdhan Page says she signed up for clubs to “broaden her mind” and learn new things.

WIBCA president Joan Lee, standing in the middle, says the change has been a long time coming. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)

“It allowed me to connect with a lot of other people and make connections and friends,” she said.

“Because of that, I've had a lot of opportunities to meet a lot of great people and have a lot of experiences.”

WIBCA co-founder Margaret Jolley said the association started as a place for black kids to play basketball in the West Island and has grown rapidly over the years. He says the new plans fill him with pride.

The current building housing the WIBCA should be demolished. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)

For more stories about the experiences of black Canadians—from anti-black racism to black community success stories—check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project where black Canadians can be proud. You can read more stories here.

(CBC)