Australian mall owners say mothers are free to breastfeed children in their centres, after outrage in Canada over the treatment of a woman who was forced to leave a store in Montreal for nursing her baby.

Shannon Smith, 36, was shopping at a children's store two weeks ago when her five-month-old daughter became hungry.

Michelle O'Connor nurses her four month old son Mijandro during the mall protest in Montreal. Credit:Reuters

She walked to a quiet area of the Orchestra outlet to breastfeed her infant and was joined by another mother. But both of them were told by a shop attendant to stop nursing.

Humiliated, Ms Smith, a mother-of-three, left but later blogged about her experience, prompting a breastfeeding protest in front of the store that attracted more than 100 mothers.