Les Petits Frères: making sure no older Montrealer spends Christmas alone

What they do

Les Petits Frères (Little Brothers in English) has one job: making sure older people who are alone have someone. Since 1962 it has paired Quebecers aged 75 and over with volunteers who visit, call and show up. The seniors are known as Grandes Amies and Grands Amis, and the friendships are meant to last. The organization says the average person it accompanies is about 85, and a match lasts around four years, sometimes more than ten.

Its home page says it reached 2,651 isolated seniors this year, and that three out of four were matched long-term with a volunteer. It works through 15 local teams in 12 regions of Quebec, Montreal included. The service is free for the seniors.

How it started

The organization began in Quebec in 1962, and its holiday tradition is just as old: Les Petits Frères says it has gathered isolated seniors for the holidays since its first year. In past years, volunteers have also gone door to door on December 24 and 25 for people who can’t travel, bringing gifts, sharing a meal and simply sitting with them. In Montreal, a free Christmas Day dinner at the Centre Sheraton became a tradition: in 2019 it welcomed 450 guests for the 34th year.

The scale is real. In its December 2024 release, the organization said it was accompanying 2,750 seniors with an average age of about 85, that 416 of them would be spending their first Christmas with the organization, and that 3,000 volunteers were involved across 12 regions.

Why it matters this December

For someone in their late 80s living alone in a walk-up in Rosemont or a small apartment in Verdun, the holidays can be the quietest days of the year. The organization’s holiday page, updated in October 2026, says more than 2,000 seniors are expected to share a traditional meal with volunteers on December 25, with twenty festive events planned in 12 regions. It also notes that nearly 200,000 older adults in Quebec face social isolation. The home page adds that one in five Quebec seniors has no close relative to rely on.

Les Petits Frères relies heavily on public generosity. In December 2025 it said only about 20% of its funding comes from government.

How to help

• Give a Christmas meal. On the holiday page, $50 covers one senior’s Christmas meal, transportation, a gift, a card and a meal for the volunteer who goes with them. $100 covers a visit, a gift and treats for four seniors.
• Volunteer. You can help regularly or now and then. Start at petitsfreres.ca under “Devenir bénévole”, or contact the team nearest you.
• Think past December. The friendships run all year, and so does the need for volunteers.

The organization hasn’t posted a 2026 press release or Christmas Eve visit details yet, so check its site for the latest.

Official website petitsfreres.ca