Prep work to begin on Port of Montreal expansion

Containers are stacked at the Port of Montreal Friday, March 1, 2019 in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) confirmed Wednesday its intention to begin preparatory work this fall on its expansion plan in Contrecœur, a project that must obtain authorization from Fisheries and Oceans Canada because it would be built in the habitat of an endangered species.

The port expansion is included in the list of projects identified by the Major Projects Office, which was presented in Edmonton by Premier Mark Carney a few weeks ago.

The preparatory work, which is set to begin in the coming weeks, includes “the installation of fences and access roads, the construction of work platforms, selective tree cutting, and the development of offices.”

According to the schedule provided at an MPA press conference on Wednesday morning, this work will continue until 2026.

“We have all the necessary authorizations to proceed with what is known as preparatory work, with the exception of the installation of a diversion fence, which requires authorization under the Species at Risk Act,” said Julien Beaudry, chief of staff and vice president of communications for the Port of Montreal.

The installation of the fence is a measure aimed at mitigating the impact of the work on the habitat of the western chorus frog.

Awaiting response from Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Port Authority wants to use the Contrecœur site to increase its container handling capacity. It is estimated that up to 1.5 million containers per year could pass through this future terminal.

It plans to build two berths, a container handling area, an intermodal rail yard, a truck gate, and support facilities.

This expansion work also involves dredging the bottom of the St. Lawrence River in the distribution area of the copper redhorse, an endangered species.

The copper redhorse is found nowhere else on the planet except in a limited section of the St. Lawrence River and a few tributaries, such as the Richelieu River, where it reproduces.

In 2021, the then federal minister of environment and climate change, Jonathan Wilkinson, gave his support to the port expansion project, but imposed a series of conditions and the implementation of an impact compensation plan aimed at creating new habitats for the endangered species.

“We are going to plant seagrass beds. So the habitat of the copper redhorse will be larger after this project is completed than it is today. And I emphasize that this is a significant investment of several million dollars,” said Beaudry. “Our intention is to carry out the planting before proceeding with the planned dredging activities. In other words, we will build before we intervene” in the fish’s habitat, he added.

This compensation plan, which is based in particular on the planting of food beds for the copper redhorse near Île aux Bœufs, must be approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the MPA believes that the department could issue its authorization as early as Nov. 28.

According to the schedule presented on Wednesday, dredging of the river in the copper redhorse habitat will begin in the fall of 2027, and the port expansion will be completed in 2030.

The MPA must also implement compensation plans for the loss of 18.5 hectares of wetlands, the loss of habitat for various fish species, for the bank swallow, for waterfowl, and for a species of bat.

Port authorities said in a document sent to the media on Wednesday that four of these seven compensation plans are already being implemented.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 1, 2025.