Sid Stevens

Early Life & Education

Sid Stevens was born Sydney Stavitsky. In his youth, he reportedly wanted to be a hockey announcer so he shortened his name to Stevens. Stevens was raised in Montreal, growing up in the traditionally Jewish neighbourhood called the Lower Main, centred on lower Saint-Laurent Boulevard in what is today Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal borough. ( See also Iconic Streets in Canada.) Stevens’s father, Sam, was from Poland and arrived in Montreal in 1929 (see Polish Canadians; Immigration to Canada). He worked as a tailor. His mother, Doris, was born to Polish immigrant parents. According to Stevens’s brother, Ted Stavitsky, their mother’s family lived in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood, while his father’s family lived nearby.

Stevens attended Devonshire Elementary School and Baron Byng High School, two of the Protestant schools of the neighbourhood that served the city’s Jewish community of the era. Stevens was committed to helping others from a very young age. In an interview with The Canadian Jewish News, his brother, Ted Stavitsky, recalled that the school custodian would call on Stevens during the lunch hour to help children cross the street. He would also help with the school bike safety program.

Later, Stevens attended Sir George Williams University, which would later become Concordia University.

Sun Youth

Sid Stevens started Sun Youth with friend Earl De La Perralle at the age of 13 in 1954. It began as a newspaper called the Clark Street Sun, which was handwritten and rented for two cents because they could only afford to produce two copies at a time (the original and the carbon copy). The newspaper reported the goings-on of Clark Street, an important residential street behind the commercial thoroughfare of Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Despite their limited production capabilities, the newspaper generated $500 in revenue in its first year, which was reinvested in buying sports equipment and uniforms, as well as organizing sporting and leisure events for the neighbourhood’s children.

As Sun Youth developed over the years it introduced a popular basketball program, the Community Basketball Federation, and worked with the Montreal police to install first aid equipment at the Beaver Lake pavilion at Montreal’s Mount Royal Park. Under Stevens’ leadership, Sun Youth also worked with the Montreal police to develop youth divisions that would help improve safety in Montreal’s arenas, community centres and city parks.

Sun Youth is also credited with developing Montreal’s first food bank as well as a program to deliver food and other necessities to people with reduced mobility. These initiatives also provided assistance to victims of the 1996 Saguenay Floods and the 1998 Ice Storm.

Thanks to the patronage of an anonymous benefactor known only as Mr. Bike Man, one of Sun Youth’s longest-running programs provided bicycles to underprivileged youth. Another long-running Sun Youth initiative drew inspiration from the poverty of the Lower Main neighbourhood Stevens grew up in. While his friends and neighbours supported the young Stevens’s charity work, few had much to donate to the cause. Sun Youth’s Christmas basket program evolved over time to providing food to about 5,000 families every year. In recent years, Sun Youth has operated about 30 different charitable efforts in Montreal.

Sun Youth also has a history of helping the victims of fires in Montreal, even when resources were limited. In the early days, Stevens and other Sun Youth volunteers would commandeer city buses, asking riders to get off and wait for the next one so they could go help others. Though this was not approved, the Montreal transit commission began donating buses to Sun Youth to help the victims of apartment or house fires. Eventually Sun Youth received specially designed buses with additional support facilities, including toilets, and local hotels would provide fire victims with accommodation.

Throughout his life, Stevens said that he and Sun Youth owed their success to the hard work of longtime friend and Sun Youth co-founder, Earl De La Perralle.

Political Career

Sid Stevens served one term on Montreal’s city council, being elected in 1978 under then mayor Jean Drapeau.

Personal Life

Sid Stevens met his partner through Sun Youth. Freda Kopyto was a Sun Youth volunteer for 20 years.

Upon news of his death, Stevens was described as being one of Montreal’s “guardian angels.”

Honours and Awards

Sid Stevens received a number of awards and distinctions throughout his long philanthropic career. In 1986, Dawson College honoured Stevens with their Dawson College Award for outstanding contribution to public life. He was awarded a citizen’s commendation from the federal government’s Department of Multiculturalism and Citizenship in 1989.

As a high-profile Montrealer committed to charitable work, Stevens received several important awards and commendations in 1992, the 350th anniversary of the founding of Montreal. For his service to the community and professional accomplishments Stevens was honoured by Concordia University’s Faculty of Commerce and Administration. In addition, the Association des médecins psychiatres du Québec also recognized Stevens for his social commitment, while the Montreal Citizenship Council honoured Stevens for his contributions to the well-being of his fellow citizens and for his generosity to the community.

Stevens was recognized by McGill University in 2002 with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

In 2011, he was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the social category. In 2016, he was named Commander of the Ordre de Montréal.

Recognized for his exceptional individual contribution to Quebec society, Stevens was appointed an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec in 2022.