Montreal's Sud-Ouest Borough Council is pushing Quebec for a CLSC in Griffintown

Montreal's Sud-Ouest District Council is pushing Quebec to open a CLSC in one of the city's fastest-growing neighborhoods.

The council argues Griffintown is underserved and has launched a petition. Chrissy Jarvis is one of the residents who says CLSC is needed.

“It would be nice to have someone here. I think it's one of the densest neighborhoods in Montreal and a lot of new condos are going up,” he said. “Of course I'd love it if I had two kids.”

For now, they go to CLSC in Saint-Henri or Verdun.

Laura Nguyen is from the West Island, so she travels there to serve.

“But it would be helpful if it was closer to my area to save on transportation back and forth,” he said.

On Monday, the county council tabled a motion asking the government to build a CLSC in Griffintown. CLSCs provide advanced social and health services to communities in Quebec, including vaccines for young children.

Griffintown residents need a range of services tailored to their needs, the online petition says. The area needs services for young families, local health services and accessible psychosocial support, she says.

Borough mayor Benoit Dorais posted the petition on social media platform X, urging people to sign it and “support our vision”.

Griffintown District Councilor Tan Shan Lee said the district's goal is to be “a 15-minute city, like everywhere within 15 minutes by foot.

“If a resident can walk to a clinic or walk to get a blood test, that would be very helpful,” he said. Because we have a lot of young families and a lot of retirees,” he says.

In 2016, Griffintown had a population of just over 10,000. In 2021, Griffintown had a population of over 12,000. Since then, even more apartments and condos have been built, filling up residents before they're finished.

Shan Li expects the population to reach 25,000 soon. He said additional health care options were planned, but those plans have been shelved.

According to Shan Lee, everything with governments takes time and Quebec will wait for the population to grow even more before implementing the necessary services.

CBC reached out to the provincial health ministry but did not receive a response.