New App Lets Users Rent Workspace by the Hour in Busy Urban Centres

'Breather' app expects to have 200 spaces listed by July

Sarah Lazar, a freelance graphic designer, in her rented office space in Montreal on Feb. 9, 2015. Breather, a mobile app that allows users to rent private workspace by the hour, hopes to capitalize on the steady movement of people into the ranks of the self employed or working from home. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

TORONTO—Sarah Lazar, a self-employed graphic designer, can’t afford to rent a workspace on a permanent basis. But the 26-year-old Montreal resident needs somewhere to regularly meet with clients and her last attempt at holding a business meeting in a coffee shop proved frustrating.

“There was nowhere to sit,” Lazar recalls. “There were people coughing up a lung ... I was just so uncomfortable.”

Breather, a mobile app that allows users to rent private workspace by the hour, hopes to capitalize on the steady movement of people into the ranks of the self employed or working from home.

The service is available in Montreal, Ottawa, San Francisco and New York and will soon be launching in Toronto. So far, the site has about 50 locations and expects to have 200 spaces listed by July.

While the concept has started to gain steam in the U.S., Breather is one of the only apps to rent professional workspace by the hour in Canada.