Meeting People in Montreal: Where to Go

Meeting people in a city is easier when you attend a recurring event: a French conversation on Friday, a games night, a tango practice on Sunday. You see the same faces again, and a stranger quickly becomes someone you know. This guide only lists events that the organizer describes on its own page.

The options at a glance

Name	Neighbourhood or street, venue	Format	When	Price (year)	Language
Language Tea Time	Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, Espace Jax	Language exchange	English Tuesday 4:15 pm, French Thursday 4:15 pm, Japanese Saturday 4 pm	$10 (2026)	English, French or Japanese, depending on the day
Mundo Lingo Montreal	Rue Ontario Est, L'Abreuvoir, Quartier latin	Language exchange, with flags for the languages	Tuesday from 7 pm	Free (2026)	Several languages
Déjà vu!	Avenue Henri-Julien, Maison de l'Afrique	French conversation, an initiative for newcomers	Friday 6 pm	$9.99 with a drink and snacks (2026)	French
Petite Révolution Montréal	Rue Saint-Denis, restaurant L'Évidence	Games night	Friday 7 to 10 pm	$10, or $5 on a tight budget (2026); the organizer asks you to order something	Not stated
Montréal Games Meetup	Changing venues, such as Face to Face Games (Griffintown), the Old Forum (near Atwater), L'Expédition Rive-Sud (Longueuil)	Board games	Monday 6 pm, Thursday 6 pm, about every other Sunday 1 pm	No group contribution for your first visit, then a contribution per visit or a yearly membership (undated)	Players of any language welcome
Studio Tango Montréal	Boulevard Saint-Laurent, near rue Villeray	Milongas and tango practice	Milonga Wednesday and Saturday; practice Sunday 3 to 5:30 pm in the fall schedule	Practice $12 (2026); milonga $14 or $16 according to the website (undated)	Not stated
ZEM Social	Rue Clark, Station Clark	Zouk workshop, then social dancing	Usually once a month, 7 pm to midnight	Not stated	Not stated
Cultivaction	Loyola, rue de Terrebonne, Ferme Loyola	Group volunteering on a farm	Tuesday and Thursday 9 am to 2 pm, in the fall season	Not stated	Website in French and English
Timeleft	Restaurants on the Plateau or in Old Montreal	Dinner with four to six strangers	Wednesday and Friday 7 pm, other formats on Saturdays	Subscription, plus food and drinks (2026)	French or English

"Not stated" means we found no price, not that it costs money.

Talking

Language Tea Time (Espace Jax, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest)

Late-afternoon language exchange sessions at Espace Jax, 1439 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, with one language per day: English on Tuesdays at 4:15 pm, French on Thursdays at 4:15 pm and Japanese on Saturdays at 4 pm. Entry costs $10 (2026); it is free for volunteers and for current students, teachers and staff of EQIP-NUMA. You need to RSVP on Meetup. Language Tea Time on Meetup

Mundo Lingo Montreal (L'Abreuvoir, rue Ontario Est)

A language exchange every Tuesday from 7 pm at L'Abreuvoir, 403 rue Ontario Est, on the corner of rue Saint-Denis in the Quartier latin, near Berri-UQAM metro station. Flags mark the different languages. It is free (2026). You RSVP on Meetup, and if you're new, it's best to arrive for the welcome at 7 pm. Mundo Lingo Montreal on Meetup

Déjà vu! (Maison de l'Afrique, avenue Henri-Julien)

An initiative for newcomers, with games, conversation and culture. On Fridays at 6 pm, it holds French conversation evenings at the Maison de l'Afrique, 6256 avenue Henri-Julien. One Friday event listing quoted $9.99, including a drink and snacks (2026); check the price for the evening you choose. You RSVP on Meetup. Déjà vu! on Meetup

Playing

Petite Révolution Montréal (restaurant L'Évidence, rue Saint-Denis)

A games night every Friday from 7 to 10 pm at the restaurant L'Évidence, 3817 rue Saint-Denis; the weekly series is announced until December. According to the listing, you can come on your own, and games are provided. The evening costs $10, or $5 for people on a tight budget (2026), and the organizer asks you to order something at the restaurant; you sign up on the group's Meetup page. Petite Révolution Montréal on Meetup

Montréal Games Meetup (changing venues)

A board games group, also called Groupe de Jeux de Société Montréal, that plays on several evenings a week; it names games from Cosmic Encounter and Twilight Imperium IV to Jaipur and Targi. On Mondays at 6 pm it meets at Face to Face Games in Griffintown, which currently uses a temporary space at 1501 rue Barré. On Thursdays at 6 pm it plays at the Old Forum, 2313 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest near Atwater, and at L'Expédition Rive-Sud, 3380 boulevard Taschereau in Longueuil. About every other Sunday, the group plays at 1 pm at Maison O Thé, and now and then it meets at L'Expédition on rue Saint-Hubert. There is no group contribution for your first visit; after that, the group asks for a contribution per visit or a yearly membership (undated). At Maison O Thé, the venue asks everyone to buy at least one thing. Players are welcome whatever language they speak. You RSVP on Meetup, and the group expects everyone to be there when the event starts. The venues change, so check the event on Meetup before you go. Montréal Games Meetup on Meetup

Dancing

Studio Tango Montréal (boulevard Saint-Laurent, near rue Villeray)

A tango studio at 7755 boulevard Saint-Laurent, near rue Villeray. According to the fall schedule on its classes page, it holds a supervised practice open to all levels on Sundays from 3 to 5:30 pm; it costs $12 (2026), and a card of five visits costs $55 according to the website (undated). On Wednesdays and Saturdays there are milongas, social tango evenings, for $14 on Wednesdays and $16 on Saturdays according to the website (undated). No registration is mentioned for the practice, and the page does not say which language people speak at the venue. The studio also teaches classes; the fall schedule is on its classes page. The classes page also names Sundays without a practice, so check it before you go. Milongas and practice, classes

ZEM Social (Station Clark, rue Clark)

Usually once a month, ZE Montréal holds ZEM Social: a zouk workshop for all levels from 7 to 8 pm, followed by social dancing until midnight. It takes place at Station Clark, 4529 rue Clark, suite 003. ZE Montréal's calendar lists the dates for the year; the price, how to sign up and the language are not given, so check the page before you go. ZEM Social, the address

Lending a hand

Cultivaction, Ferme Loyola (rue de Terrebonne)

Cultivaction offers group volunteering at the Ferme Loyola, behind building TB on the Loyola campus, 7079 rue de Terrebonne. For the fall season, its page gives weekly sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am to 2 pm, and you can drop in during those hours without signing up. The page is in French and English but does not give a language for the group. No price is given. Cultivaction

Sharing a table with strangers

Timeleft (restaurants on the Plateau or in Old Montreal)

An app that brings you together with four to six people you don't know yet. In Montreal, there are dinners on Wednesdays and Fridays at 7 pm, in restaurants on the Plateau or in Old Montreal, and other formats on Saturdays. You book on your own, in French or English, and the exact address only appears in the app. You need a subscription, whose price is not given on the page, and you pay for what you eat and drink at the restaurant (2026). timeleft.com/fr/montreal

Going alone

Pick one format and go at least two or three times before you decide. The first time is often the most awkward, and every time you return, you are more likely to see familiar faces. A shared activity makes it easier to start a conversation by giving you something to talk about: the language, the game, the dance, the work on the farm. At the Petite Révolution Montréal games night, the listing says you can come on your own, and at Timeleft everyone books on their own anyway. If you're new at Mundo Lingo Montreal, arrive for the welcome at 7 pm.

Good openers are deliberately ordinary: "Is this your first time too?", "How did you hear about it?", "Which language are you practising?" Ask one follow-up question and listen to the answer.

Making plans to meet again

A good conversation does not turn into a second meeting on its own. Before you leave, suggest something concrete: "Are you coming to Language Tea Time again next Thursday?" or "I'm going to the games night on Friday, want to come?" A specific suggestion is easier to answer than "We should do something sometime".

Try it this week

• Pick one format from the table above
• Put the date in your calendar and check it on the organizer's page
• Arrive five minutes early and talk to one person
• Before you leave, suggest a specific plan to meet again

For organisers

If you host evenings like these, you know the moment: people get on well and then lose touch. before is a web app for organisers. Guests check in at the door with a QR code in their browser, without installing an app, and anyone who likes takes a selfie. The day after, the afterparty is open from 10 am to 8 pm. Anyone who shared a selfie sees everyone else who shared one there and can press the button for meeting again for up to five people. At 8 pm everyone finds out at the same time who wants to see each other again, and only then does a chat open. One-sided wishes stay invisible, and nobody receives a rejection. Nobody needs a profile. More on the page before for organisers.