Navan landfill looks to expand, drawing concerns from residents

As the City of Ottawa bids to buy a private dump, the Navan Landfill is looking to expand. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson says residents feel blindsided by the move.

A private landfill in Navan is looking to expand its capacity, reopening concerns for many residents who believed a 2007 agreement meant the site would eventually shut down, not grow.

Waste Connections of Canada (WCC) has started an environmental assessment (EA) process for a proposed expansion of the Navan Waste Recycling and Disposal Facility on Navan Road.

The company is seeking to add three to four million cubic metres of new disposal capacity.

“For anyone who owned a home or lived in the area in 2007 or participated in the stipulations of that agreement, I think they thought there was a good faith agreement there,” said Coun. Catherine Kitts.

“For anyone who bought a home in that area, they would have been told that there’s going to be no future expansions.”

Much of the early opposition centres on a 2007 agreement between, Waste Services Inc., now WCC, and the community group Friends of the Mer Bleue, according to Kitts.

“My focus right now is looking into the standing of that agreement and whether it has legal standing,” said Kitts. “Because obviously the community is feeling like they’ve been misled, and that they thought that they had an agreement in place and that this dump would be winding down.”

Kitts says many residents feel blindsided, saying they were under the impression the landfill was nearing the end of its life and would be decommissioned once it reached its currently approved capacity.

While the landfill sits within city boundaries, the decision on whether the expansion can proceed rests with the province, not council.

“This will be a multi-year process and we’re just really at the beginning of it,” Kitts said. “Right now, the city is a stakeholder in the same way that the public is a stakeholder.”

Under the Environmental Assessment Act, the first step for Waste Connections is to prepare a Terms of Reference, a detailed planning document that sets out what the environmental assessment will study, which alternatives will be considered and public consultation opportunities.

Waste Connections has launched a project website outlining the proposed expansion and the EA process.

“Both the Terms of Reference and the [Environmental Assessment] will require review and approval from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) for the proposed expansion to proceed,” the Waste Connections website reads.

The first of two public open houses is scheduled for Dec. 11, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Le Rendez-vous des aînés francophones d’Ottawa, 3349 Navan Road in Orléans.

“We understand that residents may have concerns about the potential impacts of a landfill expansion in their neighbourhood. The provincial Environmental Assessment process is designed to ensure the community’s concerns are heard and considered,” The City of Ottawa wrote in a statement to CTV News.

“While the project is led by the proponent, we encourage residents to participate in the process by attending public open houses, asking questions, and sharing their feedback directly through the engagement tools available.”

According to the project notice, residents will be able to learn more about the existing landfill, the expansion proposal, the EA process and planned opportunities to provide input.

If the environmental assessment is approved by the province, Kitts says the city would be required to consider a rezoning application.

CTV News reached out to WCC for comment but did not hear back.

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