Aéroports de Montréal has been charged with violating federal migratory bird regulations and faces up to a $4-million fine in connection with an alleged incident that occurred more than four years ago.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) alleges “the Montreal airport cut back tall grass, thickets and shrubs in an area where migratory bird nests were located” in June 2022. ADM is denying the allegations and says it has not broken any law.
“According to our case-management system, this case violating the migratory birds act against the Montreal airport is a first,” a PPSC spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday to The Gazette.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) — which is responsible for the administration of federal migratory bird regulations — confirmed its “enforcement officials laid a charge” against ADM in December 2025 for what it described as “a violation of the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, under the (Migratory Birds Convention Act).”
ADM is alleged to have “damaged, destroyed or disturbed a migratory bird nest” in violation of the 2022 regulations, according to the official summons. The notice also states the airport authority thereby allegedly committed a summary offence under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. The fine for a first offence ranges from $100,000 to $4 million.
“The charge has been laid in court and has not yet been proven,” the ECCC said in a statement.
“Under Canadian law, any accused person, company or corporation is presumed innocent until proven guilty. ECCC will make no further comment at this time.”
A spokesperson for the ECCC declined to provide more details about the alleged crime that prompted legal action and referred The Gazette to the Montreal courthouse.
Airport authority says it ‘has not violated any law’
ADM confirmed the PPSC filed a summons against the airport authority over an “alleged event” that occurred in 2022.
“Our organization denies the allegations and intends to defend itself to demonstrate that it has not violated any law,” ADM said in a statement to The Gazette.
“Since the case is under legal proceedings, no further comments can be made regarding this case, other than to state that ADM has always conducted its site maintenance activities in full compliance with all applicable regulations, including the Migratory Birds Regulations.”
Asked why the charge was filed last December — more than three years after the alleged incident took place — a spokesperson for the PPSC said Wednesday that since the lead prosecutor handling the case is currently away, they “cannot verify at this time why the charges were filed” late last year.
A section of the freshly mowed Monarch Fields on Aéroports de Montréal land in Dorval is shown on July 4, 2022. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
ADM has been criticized by environmental groups for razing a meadow last year — the airport authority said a contractor was responsible — and mowing the so-called Monarch Fields northwest of Trudeau airport in 2022. It’s not clear if the current legal proceedings are linked to the Monarch Fields incident.
The initial hearing in the case took place on Feb. 23, according to the PPSC. The next court date is set for October.
Editor’s Picks