The Coworker is a new weekly series by MTLinTECH that spotlights one Montreal coworking space every Tuesday.

Vincent Chapdelaine and Ariane Careau met us at the Temps Libre coworking space on a brisk fall day in Montreal, a new space in Montreal that claims to offer the only completely-free coworking in the city.

The Mile End space at 5605 Avenue de Gaspé offers free coffee, strong wifi and a well-designed space with tables, chairs and other places to sit for about 40 people. This Friday the space officially launches to the public.

“It doesn’t exist anywhere else in Montreal, so I hope people realize how radical this idea is,” said Chapdelaine. “We don’t want to make rules on how people use the space. People can host events here for free. We want the community to organize itself and take control of the space.”

Several people who came by over the past few months couldn’t accept that the space was completely free.

“They don’t know how to act. People aren’t used to this concept,” said Careau. “The lack of rules or payment almost makes people uncomfortable, but once we explain the concept tend tend to like it.”

To provide that free space Temps Libre sells desk space in its adjacent paid coworking area that’s about three times the size of the public space and seats about 80 people. About 75 per cent of these seats are already spoken for by monthly renters who pay $275 for one seat (and a cheaper price per desk if one rents more than one desk).

It all comes from the vision of the non-profit call Espaces Temps, of which Chapdelaine is the director. Temps Libre is structured as a cooperative and Chapdelaine plays the role of cofounder of the space as well. Careau is the space’s operations manager.

The pair call Temps Libre part of their “vision of democracy” where more free spaces exist for people to use. Especially in a city like Montreal where a fierce winter effectively prohibits many outside spaces from being used, Chapdelaine says more spaces need to exist.

“A healthy city is one where people can gather and work on projects freely. We think the city needs places where people can discuss, organize and host events with as little constraints as possible,” Chapdelaine told MTLinTECH.

Temps Libre does benefit from four financial partners including Concordia University, which also rents eight desks in the paid space. Other than that, dozens of web workers can be seen working away in the impressive paid space at Temps Libre. Private calling booths, slick conference rooms, a spacious kitchen and even a kids daycare room round out the space.

There is no doubt upon walking into this larger space that the people in charge of Temps Libre knew what they were building. It’s an impressive, effective space to work.