Rosie Awori – Montreal Community Contact – Local Journalism Initiative
In Quebec, a dépanneur is simply a corner store, where neighbours stop for milk, bread, a late-night snack and the odd lottery ticket. But in Montreal’s West Island, three young entrepreneurs are stretching that familiar idea beyond basic convenience
Located above an arcade in the West Island, Depanneur Studios is becoming a different kind of corner store: one with cameras, sewing machines, printing equipment, podcast microphones and, perhaps most importantly, possibility.
It is a place where a photographer can walk in with an idea and leave with a finished campaign. A young designer can develop a clothing line without purchasing thousands of dollars’ worth of machinery. A podcaster can record an episode, while an entrepreneur still learning their craft can find the tools and community needed to take the next step.
For co-founder Myriam Ferreira, however, the studio is about more than equipment. It is an experiment in rebuilding the village.
“We’re trying to apply a village mentality to a cityscape,” Ferreira said to the CONTACT. “How do we make entrepreneurial spaces that are more human-centred?”
The 24-year-old Montrealer grew up primarily in Pierrefonds and is currently completing a double bachelor’s degree at McGill University in International Development and World Islamic and Arab Studies.
She plans to pursue graduate studies and eventually become a professor. The concept guiding both her studies and her business is what she calls philanthropic civilization building, an approach that asks how business can create stronger communities rather than stronger profits. She’s using Depanneur studios to test the theory.
The studio’s story began not with a grand business plan, but with a group of friends, a clothing brand and parents who had grown tired of their garages being turned into production floors.
The opportunity appeared during an ordinary visit to a local arcade. Ferreira had taken her younger cousin there and began speaking with Chris, the owner. He mentioned that there was a space upstairs.
The space was originally an apartment, complete with interior walls and rooms that did not fit the founders’ vision. They dismantled and rebuilt it themselves.
“It has really been a group project,” she said. “Everybody brought their background, what they knew and what their parents were able to teach them.”
Together, they created the kind of space Ferreira wishes she had encountered when she first entered entrepreneurship at 19.
“If I could have had access to a space like this at 19, it would have changed everything,” she said.
The business operates partly through a membership model that Ferreira compares to joining a gym. Instead of every photographer, designer or small business owner purchasing expensive tools individually, members pay for access to the studio and use the equipment relevant to their work.
There are separate membership options for visual production and textile work, as well as a full-access tier.
“If you’re somebody who is coming in to sew, you might not be interested in the fact that we have video cameras and podcast equipment,” Ferreira explained. “And if you’re coming in to podcast, you might not be interested in sewing machines.”
The studio is also available for short-term rentals, allowing photographers and other creatives in the West Island to book a professional space without having to go downtown. Reduced student rates are offered to make the facility accessible to the thousands of young people studying and living in the area.
Watching projects spend three, four or six months inside the studio before progressing to larger opportunities is, for her, one of the most fulfilling parts of the work.
The founders’ community philosophy took another step forward with Feed the Block, a food drive intended to help feed 1,000 people in the West Island on August 1. Visitors were asked to bring a bag of food or contribute what they can. Donated food and essential products were distributed through local food banks, while monetary contributions will help support the studio’s continued operations.
The initiative is rooted in the founders’ shared faith and their belief that feeding people is a sacred community responsibility.
“If my neighbour is hungry, then I’m doing something wrong,” Ferreira said. “I’m failing as a neighbour.”
That statement captures the spirit the founders hope to place at the heart of Depanneur Studios.
Ferreira speaks openly about influences that stretch beyond her own family’s history. Ideas rooted in Ubuntu, Pan-African thought, and community-first leadership continue to shape the philosophy behind Depanneur Studios.
One day, she hopes there will be a Depanneur Studios in cities beyond Montreal; several neighbourhood hubs where entrepreneurs have access not only to professional equipment but also to mentorship, collaboration and community.
She hopes the studio becomes known as the place where Montreal’s best ideas begin.
“I want Depanneur Studios to be the place where people know dope things come out of there,” she said.
Some creators connected to the space have already delivered TED Talks, participated in major networking events and worked with educational platforms.
For the founders, the task now is to “keep on keeping on.”
To learn more, visit: https://www.depanneurstudios.com/
