The Ville de Montréal’s Espace pour la vie department (hereinafter “Espace pour la vie”) is made up of the Biodôme, the Jardin botanique, the Insectarium, the Planétarium and the Biosphère. Together they form Canada’s largest natural science museum complex—a major active, outward-looking hub of biodiversity in an urban environment. In addition to its regular activities, Espace pour la vie rents out space for the holding of private events, in a setting that is unrivalled in Montréal. Why not consider combining your rental with a visit to one of our museums? That way you can offer your guests a chance to explore Space for Life and give your event a unique touch.
Objectives
The purpose of this policy is to set out the conditions and procedures for renting rooms at Espace pour la vie. It defines the eligibility criteria and the rental terms, clearly stipulates the rights and obligations of lessees and ensures that all room rentals comply fully with the vocation and mission of Space for Life, while at the same time fostering responsible management practices consistent with sustainable development.
Eligibility criteria
Any organization, whether public and private, as well as any individual aged 18 and over, may submit a room rental application for the purpose of holding private or corporate events or activities that meet the terms and conditions of this policy. Under the policy, private or corporate events or activities include private and corporate parties, conferences, meetings, training sessions, award presentation ceremonies, launches, cocktail parties, banquets and shows, as well as any other events or activities of a similar nature.
As Espace pour la vie has limited rental capacity, it cannot accept all the eligible applications it receives.
The order of room rental priority is as follows:
- Espace pour la vie’s program, education and research activities;
- Espace pour la vie’s partner organizations;
- other Ville de Montréal departments;
- public and private natural science organizations;
- and all other categories of users.
Espace pour la vie will refuse any rental application for the holding of events or activities deemed incompatible with its cultural and scientific vocation or mission, including, though without being limited by what follows, any rental application for the holding of the following events or activities: civil or religious weddings, including all related receptions, christenings, funerals, and the celebration of religious ceremonies and rituals. In this regard, the planned event or activity must be presented to Espace pour la vie as part of a rental application, and it reserves the right to request whatever further information it deems necessary to make a decision.
While acknowledging everyone’s right to express their views freely in a spirit of tolerance and respect for others, every individual, as well as every organization, whether public or private, which rents a room from Espace pour la vie undertakes to uphold the principles of secularism and ideological and religious neutrality.
Any individual or organization that fails to respect any of the rental conditions, including this policy, may have its contract cancelled immediately, without having any claim to any compensation whatsoever, and may, at Espace pour la vie’s discretion, be declared ineligible for any other rental agreement.
Rental rates
Room rental rates are consistent with the Ville de Montréal rate bylaw currently in force and are posted on the Espace pour la vie website, under the Room Rentals tab. A 50% reduction in rental rates is available for non-profit organizations and departments of the Ville de Montréal.
Additional fees (for example, for parking, maintenance, security, other human resources) may apply, depending on the spaces you rent and the activities you organize. To find out the exact cost of a rental, as well as any fees you will be charged on top of the actual rental cost, please contact Espace pour la vie’s rental department.
Room availability
The spaces available to rent at Espace pour la vie are public spaces, which means they are accessible to visitors and users during opening hours. Room availability therefore varies with whatever programs and activities are being run, and the organization of private events has to respect our visitors and users, who must have access to the museums in their entirety.
Set-up and take-down times required for holding events must be approved by the rental department. Espace pour la vie must be able to guarantee that spaces have been returned to their usual state ready to receive the regular public by 9 a.m. This includes the dismantling of anything set up for a special event, the cleaning required by museum crews and returning permanent furniture to its normal place, as needed. Instructions to various event organizers and suppliers must reflect this reality. Please note that Espace pour la vie has only limited storage space available and that this space is not secure. The rental department must therefore be notified about the type of equipment delivered and the number of items to be stored, so that arrangements can be made.
Lessee responsibilities
Lessees (renters) undertake, in their advertising, not to mention or suggest, in any way whatsoever, that the activity that will be held in the rented space is an Espace pour la vie activity or that it is sponsored by Espace pour la vie if that is not the case. Lessees alone are responsible for promotion, ticket sales and greeting the public when private events are held in Espace pour la vie rooms.
Lessees must designate a person in charge who will act as intermediary throughout the process related to using the rented spaces, providing the organization’s full contact information and the information required for good planning of the event.
The lessees whose signature appears on the rental contract expressly undertake to inform all members of the group and all participants in the event or activity for which the space is being rented about the terms and conditions of the contract. The lessees state that they agree to all the rental terms and conditions provided for and stipulated in the schedule to this policy, and agree to take all means and to give all instructions required to ensure faithful execution thereof by all of the members of their group and all participants.
The lessees further undertake to abide by any additional instruction that could be issued by Espace pour la vie before or during the holding of the activity, so as to ensure the preservation of the buildings, works of art and collections of the Espace pour la vie museums.
