JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1510 West
Members of a local grassroots group advocating for the preservation of Fairview Forest in Pointe Claire were relieved to see the regional governing body recommend preserving the forest in its entirety in its new comprehensive development plan (PMAD) earlier this month.
“We were really grateful to see that Fairview Forest in its entirety is in the final version of the PMAD,” said Geneviève Lussier, a spokesperson for the Save Fairview Forest group, in an interview last week. “We’re feeling really vindicated that the CMM acknowledges that this space is amazing and it’s ecologically biodiverse.”
The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal — the governing body responsible for setting development, economic and environmental preservation guidelines for 82 municipalities in the Greater Montreal region — released its proposed new development plan for 2026-2046 on June 9. Among its objectives, is the identification of several green spaces as “territories containing natural environments of metropolitan interest,” and encourages municipalities to preserve this land to meet the goal to ultimately protect 30 per cent of natural spaces in the region. The entirety of the 43-acre Fairview Forest was given this label under the new plan.
Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas called the designation a “real coup” for the protection of the forest in an interview last Friday.
“That, for me, is huge, and encouraging that they (the CMM) are seeing it that way,” Thomas said, praising the fact that the CMM recommends preserving the entirety of the forest. Thomas has been a staunch supporter of preserving of the woodland, at times butting heads with fellow members of his council on the subject.
The label of being a “territory containing natural environments of metropolitan interest” would not strictly serve as a legal shield to prevent all possible future development of the forest. However, along with strong recommendations to municipalities to preserve these areas, the CMM would require ecological studies to be done before ground is broken on a development project.
The new PMAD also encourages municipalities to increase densification within a one-kilometre radius of public transit stations, known as TOD zones, in order to limit further urban sprawl. A separate document, detailing management of TOD zones, encourages these municipalities to preserve existing green spaces found within the zone. An interactive map of these zones on the CMM website shows that the Fairview Forest falls within the TOD zone of the future Fairview Pointe-Claire REM station.
This past weekend, the Save Fairview Forest group held its 240th demonstration, advocating for the city to safeguard the forest from being turned into a “new downtown” of the West Island, as has been proposed by developer Cadillac Fairview since 2020.
Fairview Forest is the largest green space in the city’s northern sector. The forest is surrounded by suburban developments on one side and a business park on the other.
“I’ve long maintained that (the Fairview Forest) has to be left as a green space for that hugely dense area,” Thomas added.
Though the PMAD is encouraging for Thomas and Lussier, the document is still a few years away from being implemented at the local level.
In the meantime, Lussier said the Save Fairview Forest group will continue its Saturday demonstrations. “We’re going to keep having those protests until we know the forest will be protected in perpetuity,” she said.