Station C is a space that fosters community, collaboration, innovation. People come here to work and connect. We are a hub for creators and innovators: entrepreneurs, geeks, artists, social activists.

Station C is part of an international coworking movement, which brings together the best elements of the office, cafe, and salon. This movement is built on a set of common values:

• Community — We are a community that thrives on connections and mutual support. Everyone participates, contributes, and benefits. Station C members take the initiative to care for our collective space, welcome visitors, orient new members, start conversations, and host events. We also reach out and contribute to our local community.
• Collaboration — We work together, intentionally as part of project teams or in an ad-hoc way when  someone needs a hand. We help each other out by sharing ideas, learning, solutions, resources.
• Openness — It is beneficial to share and build on each others’ ideas and knowledge. We encourage this in a concrete way by working at shared tables in an open space. We’re a modern agora, providing a public space for informal community gatherings and encouraging folks to drop in and work with us for the day.
• Diversity — We want people with different ideas, perspectives, and ways of working. People from different backgrounds. People at different stages in their life and career. Diversity means occasional misunderstandings, annoyance, and arguments — all of which are a small price to pay for sparking creativity and avoiding groupthink.
• Sustainability — Financially, Station C was designed to sustain itself and the community, not to make a profit. Each of us is responsible for finding our own work. Environmentally, like everyone, we are still learning and finding ways to lower our impact and promote sustainable products and behaviors. We need to do more and welcome help with this.

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À la Station C, en plein coeur du Mile End, les utilisateurs, qu’on appelle des membres, insistent effectivement sur l’attrait du contact avec les gens. Dans le grand loft, il n’y a d’ailleurs pas de bureaux fermés, seulement de grandes tables de travail communes. Deux salles de conférence peuvent servir aux appels de nature privée ou de longue durée.

Christine Préfontaine, membre assidue de la Station C, n’est même pas travailleuse autonome!

Elle est conseillère principale en communications pour un organisme gouvernemental, qui lui permet de travailler à distance.

«J’ai un bureau chez moi à cinq minutes de marche, mais je préfère travailler ici», affirme la jeune femme de 39 ans, qui a décidé de payer l’abonnement de sa poche. «Ça me donne accès à une communauté.»

Comme chacun est plutôt occupé à sa petite affaire pendant la journée, elle a mis en place un concept d’”Open Salad”. Tous les mardis, les membres sont invités à apporter quelques ingrédients pour créer un buffet de salades improvisé. Il y a un frigo et un lave-vaisselle sur place.

Glad she got it that I pay for my spot out of my own pocket! Read the full article on the La Presse website: Autonome, mais pas seul.