My Day at Montreal Cowork: A Coworking Space in Montreal’s Plateau Neighbourhood

When a friend who works as a freelancer from Montreal Co-Work asked me to come live a day-in-the-life at the Plateau co-working office, I thought, “Yay! Free tea and maybe a happy hour!” Honest. She reached out unbeknownst to the company because she doesn’t think they’re getting the recognition they deserve. To me, that’s the best kind of pitch.

The truth is I really like working from home, and I’d never want to work full time at an office, even if it is a shared office with lots of other, creative, inspiring people. But I also like to get out of my home office every once in awhile. And I understand the appeal of renting a space that provides networking, phones, meeting rooms, a rooftop terrasse, bike storage, showers, parking (including Communauto car-sharing vehicles) and even trivia nights and gym buddies. So I jumped at the opportunity to be a fake co-worker for a day.

The story behind the space is also a fun one. The 27-year-old owner, Francis Talbot, opened the space six months ago on long-suffering St-Denis Street in the building owned by his father and co-founder, Raymond Talbot. Already, they’re expanding the current space to 20,000 feet and want to open new offices.

There’s a range of prices for the kind of space your business needs, whether that’s a comfy cubbyhole or spacious open concept office with windows for the whole team. My friend gave me a tour, explaining that a lot of the international business development companies were on one side of the office and tech people and freelancers on others. In fact, international business dev is one of the focuses of the space, which might be part of why the space is so successful so quickly.

Private offices start at $600/month. There’s a daily rate for the open space of $45, or $25 with a $30 monthly subscription, or $255/month for unlimited access. Or you can just rent a meeting room for $35/hour ($25 for members). Or you can just use it as a mailing address for $20/month. Two unique features are their support programs for newly landed entrepreneurs and for local entrepreneurs, which can help with everything from immigration to funding.

But the most important part of the office is creating a good vibe, because otherwise why would someone choose to share? If you hate your co-workers, you’re not going to stick around for happy hour. You’re not going to hang out in the kitchen or lounge with a muffin and lattè from the in-house café (I did note that the pastries looked awesome and the espresso maker was top notch. Almond milk and fresh sandwiches were fairly priced and in high-demand). And you’re not going to build those business connections you know you want but hate forcing yourself through awkward networking events to make. The decor is a balance between startup cool and big business sleek.

A bookable conference room at Montreal Co-work

Other perks? Discounts at nearby restaurants (including the fairly new Le Colonel Moutarde board game café), a Wednesday lunchtime running group, and free conferences for entrepreneurs, including an intro to working permits and immigration challenges. And the location is also usually open to hosting cool events. Office Christmas party? Maybe a good call to book now.

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