We are officially all settled into summer — the weather is hot, the days are long, and it’s time to soak in as much of the outdoors as possible. And that means using Montreal’s incredible greenspaces.
And are there ever a lot of amazing natural habitats to enjoy across Montreal and the West Island! After all, the city is made up of 28 per cent greenspace (including urban tree canopy and vegetation), which covers a total of 11,300 hectares across the 405-square-kilometre territory. On a per-capita basis, this means that there’s about 2.4 hectares of park space for every 1,000 residents. There are also 1,500 local neighborhood parks and 21 large city parks spread across its 19 boroughs.
The West Island features the most substantial concentration of greenspace on the island of Montreal, anchored by the sprawling 3,100-hectare Grand parc de l’Ouest. The West Island has beautiful natural woodlands, agricultural areas, and riverfront parks, which all significantly boost the region’s overall tree canopy. And there are simply no shortages of parks to enjoy here: Pointe-Claire is home to roughly 38 public parks and green spaces, including shoreline public areas and comprehensive sports fields, and Dollard-des-Ormeaux features nearly 20 parks, bolstered by 48-hectare Centennial Park, which offers an artificial lake and dog park. Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève is home to the massive Grand Parc de l’Ouest, which connects several nature parks like Cap-Saint-Jacques, Anse-à-l’Orme, and Bois-de-la-Roche, and in cities like Beaconsfield, Kirkland, and Dorval, each has their own collection of neighbourhood community parks, such as Briarwood Park, Harris Park, and Walters Park.
The cities have all made huge promises when it comes to maintaining these greenspaces. Montreal has committed to zero net artificialization by 2030, aiming to balance all development by simultaneously creating new greenspaces and ecological corridors, as well as increasing the size of its protected areas to cover 10 per cent of all land within city limits. The Nature and Sports Plan includes the planting and protecting of 500,000 trees, while expanding major greenspace projects like Pôle nature de l’Est.
And, as covered by The Suburban, they are looking at a sponge city transformation whereby the municipality is actively replacing asphalt with “sponge parks” and “sponge sidewalks” to absorb rainwater, mitigate flooding, and cool heat islands, something already taking place in the West Island.
Our city is diligently working toward preserving greenspaces, and summer is the perfect time to enjoy them. It’s time that we, as citizens, commit to taking advantage of these beautiful areas of Montreal and the West Island, and make part of our tax dollar investment a worthwhile expenditure.
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