The Lucia Kowaluk Foundation
Montréal · Established in her memory
About Lucia

Lucia Kowaluk (1934–2019)

Social worker, community organizer, housing activist, environmental advocate and one of Montreal's most influential citizen leaders.

Biography

A Lifetime of Community Leadership

Lucia Kowaluk was a social worker and longtime community activist. She helped strengthen citizen movements and promote initiatives rooted in equality, ecology, local democracy, and community well-being. She is most well known for her instrumental role in creating the Communauté Milton-Parc, one of the largest community housing projects in North America which was founded in 1979 after a decade-long battle with housing developers.

Lucia also campaigned to protect green spaces and heritage sites and was also involved in peace activism and activist publishing. She helped found numerous other organizations, including the Centre d’écologie urbaine, Héritage Montréal, and the Strathearn Intercultural Centre. As a social worker, she founded several homeless support resources including a drop-in centre in St-James United Church and housing project Chambreclerc and served as director of St. Michael’s Mission homeless shelter. She is remembered for her tenacity as well as her gentle human touch.

Lucia was awarded the Order of Canada in 2013 and named a Chevalière of the Order of Quebec in 2015. She is also the first recipient of Montreal’s Thérèse-Daviau prize (2004). Her legacy remains an inspiration to us all.

Lucia Kowaluk
Lucia Kowaluk at a Milton-Parc community assembly.
Lucia Kowaluk and Dimitri Roussopoulos
"The City Is Her Cause" — Lucia honoured before The Gazette's 2013 front page.
Her Philosophy

Building Strong Communities

Lucia believed lasting change comes from ordinary citizens working together. Throughout her life she encouraged neighbourhood participation, democratic decision-making, environmental responsibility and social inclusion. Every campaign she joined reflected these same values: protecting people before profit and ensuring that cities remain places where everyone can thrive.

“She’s a leader, but she’s a leader by being part of the group and bringing people along with her.”

Major Contributions

The fight for co-op housing and creation of the CCMP

(1970–1979)

In 1968, the real estate company Concordia Estates unveiled its La Cité project. Having acquired more than 90% of the properties in Milton-Parc beginning in 1958, the company sought to demolish the Victorian homes to build a large “modern” housing complex in their place.

In response to this project, several citizen-led initiatives were launched, notably the creation of the Milton-Parc Citizens’ Committee (CCMP). Despite efforts to mobilize the community, construction of the first phase of the project began in 1973.

The Milton-Parc Citizens’ Committee (CCMP) organized several community meetings but was slow to take concrete action. “Lucia Kowaluk and her partner, Dimitri Roussopoulos, who had recently moved into the neighborhood, took up the cause and breathed new life into the CCMP, spurring it to take concrete action: demonstrations, the occupation of Concordia Estates’ offices, a hunger strike, and more. […] This citizen opposition undermined the La Cité project, which saw its funding dwindle. ” — Émilie Girard

These citizen protests, combined with rising construction costs tied to the oil crisis and the losses incurred by Concordia Estates, led to the abandonment of the La Cité project in 1976 — a major opportunity for residents to take back control of their neighborhood.

Under the leadership of Lucia and other neighborhood activists, residents formed the Communauté Milton-Parc association in 1979 and bought back the undemolished residences to convert them into housing cooperatives. Today, this complex comprises nearly 146 heritage buildings, 616 housing units, and 1,300 residents, making it one of the largest housing cooperatives in North America.

Manifestation Milton-Parc
Demonstrations to Save the Milton-Parc Neighbourhood, 1972
Milton-Parc
La Communauté Milton-Parc

“What enables a movement or a cause to survive? How can ideas be kept alive without apparent support? How can visions remain relevant in a climate of indifference and apathy? Someone has to remember, to believe in that vision, talk about it, spread the word, and keep the flame alive.

In Milton-Parc, that person was Lucia Kowaluk. Once the trial was over, when others were at the end of their rope, Lucia Kowaluk became more involved than ever. She refused to consider the CCMP a thing of the past.”

Claire Helman
1987

Overdale block

(1987-1988)

In 1987, the City of Montreal announced the demolition of the Overdale block in downtown Montréal, a series of Victorian houses including the one where Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine once lived, to make way for luxury housing. Lucia was active in the citizen movement to prevent the demolition of these houses, drawing from her experience in Milton-Parc to support these residents facing a similar situation.

Following a series of radical actions and the forceful eviction of the tenants, the vast majority of the buildings were ultimately demolished, remaining as a large parking lot until being developed into high-rise housing thirty years later.

“Despite the defeat, the resistance of the Overdale block tenants served, and continues to serve, as an inspiration for struggles over housing issues.”

— François Saillant
Overdale
Demonstrations to save the Overdale block

Sauvons Motréal

(1973-2006)

Following the demolition of the Van Horne Mansion in 1973, Lucia helped found Sauvons Montréal to highlight shortcomings in the management and planning of heritage buildings and sites by the City of Montreal.

In 1975, Lucia also helped found the organization Héritage Montréal to continue advancing heritage protection and recognition of the communities that keep this heritage alive.

“She has enriched the lives of so many Montrealers in need, whether by improving their housing situation, creating a dignified, welcoming refuge for them, or actively promoting environmentally responsible behavior. At the same time, through her example, she inspires future generations of social workers, community activists, and ordinary citizens.”

— Phyllis Lambert
Sauvons Montreal
Sauvons Montréal Demonstrations in front of Saughnessy house, 1973

Centre d’écologie urbaine de Montréal

Lucia also helped found the Montreal Urban Ecology Center (CEUM) in 1996 to promote sustainable and democratic development in the city.

  • 📚 History of the Centre d'écologie urbaine de Montréal
    • CEUM
    Public awareness conference by the Urban Ecology Centre, 2000

    “Since its founding, Ms. Kowaluk’s values have been at the very heart of the CEUM’s mission, as she firmly believed in citizens’ ability to transform their living environments in a sustainable and equitable way. In addition to being a founding member, Ms. Kowaluk served as the CEUM’s coordinator for eight years.”

    Matthew Chapman

    Hôtel-Dieu

    Lucia campaigned for the Hôtel-Dieu premises, whose fate remains uncertain to this day, to be repurposed to create community housing and spaces for social organizations.

    This effort led to the City of Montreal’s purchase of a portion of the site from the Religieuses hospitalières in 2017, which now serves as an office and meeting space for various social organizations. This was followed by the creation of the Communauté Saint-Urbain, a coalition of citizens and community organizations in the area advocating for the revitalization and protection of this heritage site. In 2019, the coalition produced a comprehensive proposal for the redevelopment of the Hôtel-Dieu site. The fight is ongoing and the majority of the Hôtel-Dieu site remains empty.

    Lucia Kowaluk in front of the Hôtel-Dieu site on Pine Avenue
    Lucia Kowaluk in front of Hôtel-Dieu, advocating for the preservation and redevelopment of the historic site as community housing and public space.
    Aditional work
    Recognition

    Honours and Awards

    Order of Canada (2013)

    Lucia Kowaluk was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her lifelong dedication to social justice, affordable housing, heritage preservation and urban ecology. The award honours her extraordinary contribution to improving the lives of Canadians through community leadership.

    Knight of the Order of Québec (2015)

    The Government of Québec named Lucia a Knight of the Order of Québec in recognition of her outstanding contribution to community development, social housing, environmental protection and the preservation of Montréal's heritage.

    Thérèse-Daviau Prize (2004)

    Lucia became the first recipient of Montréal's Thérèse-Daviau Prize, recognizing over forty years of commitment to community development, social justice, citizen participation and environmental stewardship.

    Lucia Kowaluk Order of Quebec
    Lucia Kowaluk with the Quebec prime minister Philippe Couillard as she is named Knight of the Order of Quebec
    Legacy

    Lucia Kowaluk Park

    Located only steps from Lucia's longtime home at the corner of Pine Avenue and Parc Avenue, Lucia Kowaluk Park stands as a lasting tribute to her lifelong dedication to Montréal.

    In 2023 the City of Montréal completed major improvements to the park, creating landscaped public spaces and a community gathering area with a speakers' corner — an especially fitting tribute to someone who spent her life giving neighbours a voice.

    Lucia-Kowaluk Park inauguration
    Lucia-Kowaluk Park inauguration
    Remembering Lucia

    Her Legacy Lives On

    Lucia believed that ordinary citizens have the power to transform their communities. Her work continues through the organizations she helped establish, the communities she strengthened and the countless people inspired by her example.

    Today, the Communauté Milton-Parc remains an international model of cooperative housing, while the organizations she helped create continue to protect heritage, promote sustainable cities and defend social justice across Montréal.

    Videos & Resources

    Learn More About Lucia

    Explore documentaries, interviews, articles and tributes celebrating Lucia Kowaluk's remarkable life and the history of the Milton-Parc movement.

    Dimitri and Lucia
    Lucia with her life companion and lifelong collaborator, Dimitri Roussopoulos

    Continue Lucia's Legacy

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