Montréal, Canada

Photo by Karelle Clermont-Moquin

Implementation, Impact and Replicability

How does the initiative demonstrate evidence of a track record of success against pursued objectives?          

Annual reporting is planned to measure the effectiveness of the actions included in the Strategy. Performance, outcome and impact indicators to measure the success of the Strategy are as follows

PERFORMANCE (output)

• Number of actions supported or implemented by the City and its boroughs by 2026.

RESULTS (outcome)

• Number of projects completed
• Number of new urban agriculture businesses
• Number of residents trained or made aware of the practice of urban agriculture
• Area of urban agriculture spaces (m2) on public property
• Number of businesses practicing urban agriculture
• Total number of jobs created.

IMPACTS

• Climate change vulnerability map – heat waves
• Quantity of GHG emissions related to urban agriculture
• Improvements to food security and social resilience.

Montréal’s Urban Agriculture Strategy was adopted in September 2021. The framework put in place will allow the tangible effects of this initiative to be measured from 2023 onwards.

How has the initiative had a ripple effect beyond the scope of the initiative itself, thereby demonstrating a change in the city’s and/or its partners’ way of working with plants?

The Strategy has 34 actions and includes commitments that can be carried out by other municipal actors. These include:

• Including dedicated urban agriculture areas in the planning programs for new developments
• Making available agricultural production spaces in municipal infrastructures and assets and encouraging transitional use projects
• Integrating fruit trees into greening projects by promoting edible landscaping and mini food forests
• Facilitating the implementation of urban greenhouse projects through a regulatory experimentation process
• Encouraging projects and gardening in Montréal schoolyards.

These actions are also in line with the City’s desire to make urban agriculture one of the drivers of its green and inclusive economic recovery in order to promote business growth in the sector. With this new strategy, Montréal and its stakeholders will be better positioned to respond to the various food, environmental and social challenges facing the city and its citizens.

How have other cities expressed interest in the initiative, or what potential does it have to interest other cities and be customised to their own circumstances?

This initiative is of great interest to other municipalities throughout the province of Québec, Canada and other major cities around the world. Many municipalities are interested in implementing a community food development plan and the Urban Agriculture Strategy is a contribution to this discussion. The plan consists of drawing up a portrait of the actors, infrastructures, activities and initiatives related to the local agri-food system as well as a diagnosis in consultation with local actors. This diagnosis then makes it possible to define objectives, a common vision and avenues of intervention, particularly for the start-up of new urban, local agricultural enterprises, for greater food autonomy, and for greater resilience in the face of numerous challenges, including climate change.