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MONTREAL — Residents of Montreal’s Park Extension warn that evictions are on the rise amid gentrification in the province’s poorest neighbourhood.

Tenants and community advocates gathered at Parc Saint-Roch Saturday to raise awareness, build solidarity and swap cautionary tales as a sprawling new university campus prepares to open its gates down the street.

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Samiha Hossain, 23, has lived for two decades in the same apartment, where incoming tenants now pay nearly twice what her family does.

She said several family friends have been evicted from other buildings for renovations. One landlord halved the size of the apartments to double the number of units while boosting the rent, “because they’re beside a campus that’s opening soon and more students can come in.

“We’re one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada, but we’re definitely rich in solidarity and community links, and in diversity,” Hossain said. “We still have to remember that and be proud that.”