Montreal is spending a million to renovate 25 community gardens across the island, in addition to creating a new one. Ten boroughs will thus benefit from direct aid to start renovation projects for these spaces, deemed “essential” to develop the food resilience of communities.
Posted at 12:31 p.m.
“This is the most significant support we have offered to community and collective gardens since the creation of Montreal as we know it 20 years ago,” explained the head of the environment and ecological transition. , Marie-Andrée Mauger, during a meeting of the executive committee on Wednesday.
She thus referred to the adoption of Bill 170 by the government of Lucien Bouchard which, in 2002, merged all the municipalities of the island within a single entity: that of the City of Montreal. Since that date, community gardens have become a borough jurisdiction.
A total of $996,000 will be donated to 10 boroughs, namely Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Saint-Laurent, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Montréal-Nord, Anjou, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre -Dame-de-Grâce, Sud-Ouest, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension and Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie, for a total of 26 projects.
Most of them are “upgrading” or expansion initiatives, but a new collective garden will also see the light of day in Parc Azellus-Denis, on rue De Castelnau. For meme Mauger, this investment will be a “breath of fresh air” for community gardens, which according to her have several benefits such as “the promotion of local production of fruits and vegetables, which contribute to our food autonomy”.
“We are reducing heat islands, protecting green spaces, enriching biodiversity and rooting nature in the city,” explained Ms.me Mauger, also speaking of “powerful tools to break isolation and build ties” in communities.
From 120 to 160 hectares
In its Urban Agriculture Strategy adopted in 2021, Montreal aims in particular to increase the number of hectares of cultivated land to 160 hectares by 2026, which would represent a significant increase of 33% compared to 2021, the date on which numbered 120.
The craze for urban gardening is currently very strong, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the firm Angus Reid showed in a survey that more than a million Canadian households want to learn gardening in 2022, a number which is added to that of gardeners converted during the pandemic and before.
But there is the other side of the coin. In May, Radio-Canada revealed that the wait for a place in a community garden is on the rise in Montreal. In some very dense sectors like Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, you have to wait between six and ten years before getting a place. Ditto on the Plateau Mont-Royal (from seven to ten years old) or in Verdun (three or four years old). Further north, the situation is more tolerable; you have to wait one to three years in Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
“While in 2020 food insecurity was a strong argument for people to grow their food at home, this consideration is partially redirected to concerns about food affordability and freshness,” explained in April. the director of the Agrifood Analytical Sciences Laboratory, Sylvain Charlebois.