If you want to join the Coalition, click ici

(available in french only)

Maintaining agricultural sustainability: a priority
The Act to preserve agricultural land is now 25 years old. It is the cornerstone of Quebec’s legislation on land use, preservation of agricultural heritage and agricultural development.

In the latest annual report of the Commission de protection du territoire agricole (CPTAQ), which marked this anniversary, the President of this agency considered it appropriate, despite two and a half decades of application, to issue the following warning to the government: “Given the stakes emerging in Quebec’s urban agglomerations, especially in the Greater Montreal region, we consider it more important than ever that a rigorous and consistent message be sent regarding the sustainability of the agricultural zone.”

Less than 2% of Quebec land can be cultivated: no loss is acceptable
The overall problem is especially acute in that less than 2% of Quebec land is suitable for agriculture. Another eloquent fact is that most of the good soil is located in the St. Lawrence lowlands, with a preponderant concentration of high-quality soil in the Montreal periurban belt. Once again, the CPTAQ President’s comments in his agency’s report are unequivocal: “In the final analysis, in both cases (urban agglomerations and rural communities), we believe that adjustments are necessary to preserve the credibility of the Act and the legitimacy and consistency of its application.”
 

An immediate threat
In the Montreal metropolitan region alone, for example, 1,800 hectares of agricultural land are currently the object of applications for exclusion. The most eloquent case, nonetheless, is still the government’s intention to reverse its position on the Autoroute 30 extension (in the Montérégie), opting for a route which runs right through an agricultural zone and ultimately sacrificing 514 hectares of some of Quebec’s best agricultural land. This decision is even less justifiable, given that there is a more logical option, with less impact on agriculture, which would follow the current route of Highway 132, which had been intended to accommodate Autoroute 30 for near thirty years.


Why a coalition?
In this context, the Union des producteurs agricoles believes that the time has come to create a coalition to protect agricultural land in Quebec and support this “rigorous and consistent message”. By joining this coalition, you will help defend the preservation of agricultural land, which is the cornerstone of the growth and vigour of our agriculture and necessary to the sustainability of a rare and precious collective heritage.


Consult the Coalition's press releases (available in French only)


Partenaires de la Coalition pour la protection du territoire agricole
Association des détaillants en alimentation du Québec (ADA)
Association professionnelle des chauffeurs de camion et Coop des camionneurs
Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ)
Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)
Conseil de la transformation agroalimentaire et des produits de consommation (CTAC)
Conseil régional de l'environnement de Montréal
Équiterre
Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ)
Fondation québécoise en environnement
Greenpeace
La Coop fédérée
Nature Québec /UQCN
Option consommateurs
Ordre des agronomes du Québec (OAQ)
Union des consommateurs
Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA)



If you want to join the Coalition, click here

(available in french only)