A downtown Montreal building collapsed overnight on rue Saint-Christophe, near the corner with Sainte-Catherine East. Around 7 a.m. on November 11, Montreal police were called to secure the area, while firefighters inspected the rubble.

"After a thorough search, we found no one was injured by the collapse," SPVM spokesperson Mariane Allaire Morin told MTL Blog.

"We didn't find any indication of criminal activity, so the case was transferred to the Service de Sécurité Incendie de Montréal."

The three-storey building, flanked by a parking lot on one side and a derelict building on the other, had been boarded up for at least a month before the incident. In recent weeks, the City of Montreal had also installed metal fencing around the block.

The full block where the building collapsed.@davidwallyrawalia | Instagram

Cars were prevented from parking near the site in the week leading up to the collapse. Those parked across the street while the building fell were covered in several millimetres of fine dust.

The area remains cordoned off with yellow caution tape, but Montreal police have not formally closed the street.

"Tape is still up at the moment to keep people from approaching the building, but traffic is allowed to pass through," said Allaire Morin.