Canada Malting Co.

What seemed to be a cement or concrete company at first ended up being what is left of the old Canada Malting Co. built in 1905. A company now located in the City du Havre in the Ville-Marie borough.

Photo RLB

Built in 1905, the Canada Malting Co. plant is similar to other buildings designed by David Jerome Spence, an architect who had an eye for arched windows and detailed cornices. The plant was one of the few in Canada with terracotta silos.

In those days, the plant received its barley, a common malted grain, from Saskatchewan and Alberta. Ships coming from the Great Lakes arrived at the Old Port of Montreal where the grains were loaded unto barges and transported upstream on the Lachine Canal.

Photo RLB

Malt is the result of the germination of cereal grains. First, malted grains are sorted by length and size, second they are cleaned to remove dust and foreign particles, third they are soaked to begin germination and fourth, they are kiln dried for about 24 hours.

Photo RLB

When ready, the malt was sent by trucks to various breweries in Montreal such as Dow, Molson and Labatt. In 1902, the construction of modern grain elevators in the Old Port began and, in 1970, after the closing of the Lachine Canal, the transportation cost of the Canada Malting Co. became excessive.

Photo RLB

The grains had to be delivered to the plant by trains and trucks and lots of damages and losses occurred during transportation. As a result, the plant closed its doors and relocated in the City du Havre in 1980.

Photo RLB

The Old Port of Montreal located in the Old Montreal since 1611 is now an historic and touristic part of the actual Port of Montreal. A port territory that stretches along the St-Lawrence River from the Victoria Bridge upstream to Pointe-aux-Trembles downstream.

Photo RLB

After Canada Malting Co. moved its plant and, between 1980 and 1985, some forgotten company used the old plant for grain storage. Nowadays, the building is no longer the property of the Canada Malting Company and the old malting plant has been up for sale since 2005 by its present owners.

After more than 25 years of abandonment, the building cannot be recycled. The damage caused by water infiltration, decaying mortar, rust, graffiti and vandalism would cost too much to repair. It now sits empty, awaiting demolition in a world where disused buildings are either demolished or transformed into condos or both.

Two movies were filmed on location. "The Point", a movie about Pointe-Saint-Charles by Joshua Dorsey (2006) and "La Rage de l'Ange" on troubled youth by Dan Bigras (2006).