Montreal moving day cleanup expected to take weeks

Mattresses, couches, garbage bags — items big and small: city crews are hitting the streets this week in a post-moving day cleanup operation.

Mattresses, couches, garbage bags — items big and small: Montreal’s blue-collar workers are hitting the streets over the next few days in the annual post-moving day cleanup operation.

“We’re dealing with a massive amount of materials on the curb of the street,” city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said.

City crews with bulldozers and dump trucks are busy removing the mountains of curbside trash left behind by the hundreds of newly housed tenants.

The operation involves picking up an estimated 50,000 tons of trash. Sabourin said it will take two weeks.

“We need the help of everyone: sort your things, bring your materials to the curb of the street only when it’s the appropriate time, then it will help the city with its cleanliness,” Sabourin said.

Sabourin says the city recycles the discarded items and invites residents to do the same at one of the seven Ecocentre drop-off points, with the city’s website serving as a valuable resource in indicating the one closest.

Currently, the city says some 200 families are still without a residence after moving day. That is down from the 600 recorded on July 2.

Thirty-two families are being sheltered in hotels until they find a new home, Sabourin said.