An industrial area near downtown Montreal could get a new urban beach​

Montreal's Wellington Basin could soon swap its industrial grit for something a bit trendier. Under a new proposal, the area bathed in the unmistakable glow of the Farine Five Roses sign would be divided into three new zones over the next decade and a half: one for creative workspaces, one for leisure with an urban beach, and another designed to spark economic activity.

The driver behind the transformation is the Canada Lands Company, a Crown corporation that turns underused federal properties into community assets. They manage landmarks like the Montreal Science Centre and the Old Port of Montreal and are now setting their sights on a mostly vacant lot, where the reminder of its industrious past is a lone flour mill.

A render of the view from the proposed Wellington Basin beach.Courtesy of Canada Lands.

The Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) laid the groundwork with a series of public consultations in early 2020, targeting the wider Bridge-Bonaventure sector, which includes the basin. The feedback led to a plan for a mixed-use district, identifying three functional areas:

• Artisans’ District: An area with workspaces designed to support the local arts scene.
• Basins’ Beach: The urban beachfront will replace the old industrial waterfront, to become a new draw for locals and tourists.
• Innovation Cluster: With a focus on economic revitalization, the sector hopes to attract startups and tech firms.

Alongside the thematic zones, the project blueprint includes about 2,800 new residences to house roughly 4,200 people, with an eye on diversity and affordability — 1,000 of the units are earmarked as affordable or social housing, secured with long-term price controls.

A map situating the Wellington Basin in relation to other plans for the area.Courtesy of Canada Lands.

The project, spanning Mill Street, Bridge Street, the Peel Basin, and the REM line, would feature three new parks and sustainable elements like a carbon-neutral urban heating network, incorporating aspects of the area's industrial past.

In the run-up to redevelopment, Canada Lands has engaged with a cross-section of Montreal's community — municipal bodies, institutions, government departments, private sector players, academics, and local residents — to knit the Basin back into the fabric of surrounding neighbourhoods like the Old Port, Griffintown, and Pointe-Saint-Charles.

"It is the result of a major engagement effort to create a plan to transform a strategic site right at the gateway to downtown and close to many neighbourhoods and integrate it into the community," said Pierre-Marc Mongeau, Vice President of Real Estate at Canada Lands Company.

Given municipal approval, the next steps would involve selecting developers for the affordable housing projects, initiating environmental cleanup, and laying the groundwork for new infrastructure. If all goes as planned, the first properties would hit the market by 2025.