New heritage plaque: Union of Canada

By Allen Brown

On March 24, city councillor Stéphanie Plante, municipal heritage planner Taylor Quibell and Lowertown Community Association president Sylvie Bigras unveiled a new plaque commemorating the Union of Canada and its demolished building, located at the corner of York and Dalhousie streets, the current site of the Andaz Hotel.

Ms. Quibell recalled that the building, demolished in 2014 despite strenuous efforts by the Lowertown community to save it, had been designed by eminent Montreal architect Louis J. Lapierre and built in 1967. Ms. Bigras noted that “The Union du Canada building represented an important heritage for our region’s francophone communities, as the organization’s cooperative movement offered health and life insurance to working-class francophone families – something not available to them elsewhere… we will honour Union St-Joseph du Canada for their support of the francophone community and are proud that this plaque will remind everyone of their importance to us all.”