Technoparc Wetlands
faces new threats

Technoparc Oiseaux calls on Montrealers to pressure elected officials to protect this vital habitat

By Irwin Rapoport

Updated February 18, 2025

The Technoparc wetlands and wilderness area, located in Saint Laurent and Dorval, never seem to get a break from the threat of destruction and now the Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) has cooked up a new plan to obliterate its 160-hectare portion of this critical nature habitat that is home to a plethora of biodiversity and the top birding site on the island.

While scrolling on Facebook last Saturday morning I saw a February 5 post from the TechnoparcOiseaux entitled Urgence.

I was taken aback. The post reads:

We are stunned and devastated to share with you the news that we have received confirmation that ADM (Aéroports de Montréal) is planning to develop not only ALL of Champ des Monarques but over 100 ha in the sector, including natural and wetland environments, affecting the Forêt des Sources and the Marais des Sources. We have confirmation of these plans in the brief ADM submitted to the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal in December, as well as in the overview ADM presented to us on Friday, January 31, 2025.

We are all the more distressed to learn that this new Master Plan, which does not respect the will of over 25 municipalities and boroughs that have come out in favour of protecting the site, including the City of Montreal, the Borough of Saint-Laurent and the City of Dorval, has already been submitted to Transport Canada. We understand that Transport Canada will have until March 21 to accept it. We encourage you to call your local, provincial, and federal representatives and urge them to act quickly to protect the site.

Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) has cooked up a new plan to obliterate its 160-hectare portion of this critical nature habitat that is home to a plethora of biodiversity and the top birding site on the island.

Before this new threat, Hypertec’s plan to develop land it purchased for a new development in the sensitive ecological zone, was the latest peril. Fortunately, this was resolved on October 16 last year when a land swap deal was secured with the firm.

The Gazette article entitled City Reaches Deal with Hypertec to Preserve Part of Technoparc Wetlands provides the details and the background.

So far so good. Support for the creation of a new nature park, possibly an urban national park promised by the federal government, was gaining steam. Montreal has converted its lots in the Technoparc area to wilderness. However, there are still several privately owned lots that are still at risk of being developed in the city’s jurisdiction.

But now we are facing a potentially disastrous setback should the federal government approve the ADM’s plan for the area that it controls via a 60-year lease from the Ministry of Transport, which owns the land.

Here is the February 5 Techoparc Oiseaux press release.

For its part, Technoparc Oiseaux has prepared a rebuttal brief shared with the CMM, City of Dorval, City of Montreal, ECCC, and Transport Canada. Silence in the face of such proposed ecological destruction would be inexcusable. Technoparc Oiseaux urges the federal government to act immediately to ensure a viable future for these precious natural environments and future generations.

“Protecting these unique habitats is a collective responsibility,” said Katherine Collin, president of the non-profit organization Technoparc Oiseaux. “ADM can set an example by becoming a leading player in sustainable development and supporting, rather than hindering, protection of the site. If it truly wants to be known as a green company, ADM must withdraw its development plans while there is still time.”

‘ADM can set an example by becoming a leading player in sustainable development and supporting, rather than hindering, protection of the site. If it truly wants to be known as a green company, ADM must withdraw its development plans while there is still time.’

– Katherine Collin, president, Technoparc Oiseaux

ADM is well-known for its goal of razing the natural areas within its jurisdiction. This attitude goes back over 20 years. It has reduced the size of the golf courses, by renting land from it.

Environmentalists have been standing up for the natural areas that remain via protests, demonstrations, nature walks which were attended by Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May, and pressure campaigns. May was not alone as federal, provincial, and municipal representatives and nominees from a range of political parties have expressed support for the natural space.

I have attended several events along with members of Les Amis du Parc Meadowbrook, which along with other environmental groups, are calling for the creation of a new nature park that is home to more than 200 species of birds. Quebec Oiseaux, an umbrella group for birding groups across Quebec, and Bird Protection Quebec, Canada’s oldest bird conservation charity, have both issued statements this week calling for the protection of the site.

It was only two or three years in early July that the ADM deliberately mowed down thousands of milkweed plants which were set to release their seeds and even more horrendous, were being visited by endangered Eastern Monarch butterflies that were laying eggs for the generation that would return to Mexico to repeat the yearly migration cycle. Even a few caterpillars were munching on the leaves to prepare for their transformation into butterflies. The fields also contained many other plants crucial for other butterflies and insects, which also provided shelter and a food source for many birds and animals.

Just a few days ago, a Weather Network Facebook post warned of a serious decline in Monarch numbers.

The federal government could intervene directly and declare these lands protected natural areas – an action it has not taken thus far for some unfathomable reason. It was on Canada Day a few years back at Strathearn Park in Montreal West, that I and a friend and spoke with then Westmount-NDG MP Marc Garneau, the minister of transport, pleading with him to promptly employ his ministerial authority to protect these lands. Our message did not register one iota.

‘… federal, provincial, and municipal representatives and nominees from a range of political parties have expressed support for the natural space.’

The ADM is now asserting that developing these areas promotes passenger safety, with an emphasis on the threat of bird strikes at Trudeau Airport. This was noted in a CTV News report aired last Saturday, entitled Dispute Ongoing Between Montreal Airport and Technoparc Nature Reserve

“It is inconceivable to ask an airport authority to assign a nature park use to such a large land located so close to the airfield and runways, as it would increase the presence of wildlife on site,” the ADM said.

The ADM cited the Jeju Air crash in South Korea on Dec. 29 that killed 179 people. An investigation into the crash confirmed that bird strikes played a role in the Boeing 737-800 crash.

Environmental advocate Katherine Collin labels this a fear tactic.

“We do not accept that argument,” she said. “It is not that we do not believe that passenger safety is a priority or concern. We believe that ADM is overstating the dangers posed by the bird populations here.”

 *     *     *     *     *

Katherine Collin replied to a few questions about this newest threat.

WM: You have expressed skepticism regarding the passenger safety argument. Can you elaborate and how do you explain the ADM’s overall attitude about wanting to destroy the natural areas within its jurisdiction?

Collin: The natural spaces next to the airport have existed there for decades without any issue, and when we look at the airport’s own statistics, we see that wildlife risk is not increasing. Furthermore, the airport has supported the conservation of birds in the sector, so their argument seems confusing at best. We have heard this argument before, notably when ADM supported the industrial development of Monarch Fields in 2021. We question moreover whether ADM is dismissing the public will in their decision to move ahead with bulldozer-style development. The facts are clear: the site is extremely important for ecosystemic services and biodiversity on the island of Montreal (and more broadly within the CMM); and there is broad public support for the conservation of the site, from the federal government to the provincial, regional and municipal governments, to the Mohawk Council of Kahnawa:ke, as well as 25 boroughs and cities that signed on unanimously to support the site’s protection. What ADM is proposing goes clearly against that public will.

‘The natural spaces next to the airport have existed there for decades without any issue, and when we look at the airport’s own statistics, we see that wildlife risk is not increasing… the airport has supported the conservation of birds in the sector, so their argument seems confusing at best.’

– Katherine Collin, president, Technoparc Oiseaux

As to the second part of the question, we can’t understand ADM’s approach as it contradicts the precautionary principle of conservation and goes against the image of a “green” company: we know that what they’re proposing is going to be devastating to biodiversity and to nature’s services to people on the island of Montreal (mitigation of flood risk, purification of air/water, access to urban nature). We also know that decarbonization initiatives, the supposed rationale for developing Lot 20, do not require building over ecologically sensitive land. So that argument falls flat as well. So we can’t understand ADM’s position or justifications for their proposed development.

WM: Is there any hope of the federal government designating Technoparc wetlands and wilderness areas as an urban national park?

Collin: We have always said that we want to see the full site protected in perpetuity; whether that takes the form of a formal urban national park or of a modification of ADM’s lease to ensure that this 160 ha space of federal land is permanently reserved for conservation and no longer under the direct control of the airport, is less important than getting conservation action for the full site in place and FAST. There is real urgency here. ADM has not hidden its intentions to develop the site and Transport Canada has until March 21 to sign off. Make no mistake: if ADM were a good corporate citizen, it would be engaging seriously with federal government overtures and supporting the conservation of all four lots (3,4,5 and 20), which we know it is not doing by its own accord.

WM: Why is it so important that this ecological gem be protected and cherished?

Collin: Protecting this ecological gem is important for biodiversity, but also for us as people. We do not have many of these urban natural spaces left on the island of Montreal and indeed in Southern Quebec. The site is internationally known for its biodiversity and people have come from around the world to appreciate it. Scientists and urban planners are in broad agreement that the site calls for protection: Habitat, WWF-Canada, David Suzuki Foundation, Biodiversité Conseil, City of Montreal, City of Dorval, and the CMM clearly show that the site is recognized as having high priority for conservation.

If ADM truly wants to be a good neighbour on the island of Montreal and a good corporate citizen, it will listen to the thousands of voices supporting the protection of the site, relinquish these lands to conservation, and expand elsewhere. Some solutions are at their immediate disposition that would provide a win-win for everyone. It’s impossible to think that ADM, with a lease that was struck in 1992 for 80 years, can dictate the future of the island of Montreal in times as urgent as these.

Reference documents

Aéroports de Montréal. (2024, 16 décembre) – Consultation publique sur le projet de PMAD: Mémoire présenté par ADM Aéroports de Montréal – p. 20

Technoparc Oiseaux. (2025, 2 février) – L’urgence de protéger les milieux naturels du Technoparc et des terres fédérales adjacentes – Mémoire soumis à la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, à la Ville de Montréal, à la Cité de Dorval, à Environnement et Changement Climatique Canada, et à Transports Canada – p. 34

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.

Feature image: Virginia Rail and Downy Chick, by Ilana Block

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Irwin Rapoport is a freelance journalist with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Concordia University.