Mayor's Address—August 2026: Meech Creek corridor, building permits, the Meredith Centre, and Chelsea's asks for the provincial election

August 19, 2026

Welcome back

Summer is winding down and the school year is about to start. I hope these past weeks gave you what you were hoping for: time with your family, a trip, cycling, hiking, a day on the Gatineau River, or simply evenings without a schedule. In Chelsea, you don't have to go far to find any of that—and that is a large part of why we choose to live here. Welcome back, everyone.

Meech Creek ecological corridor: adoption postponed to the fall

The by-law establishing the Meech Creek ecological corridor will be brought to a council meeting this fall.

The August 10 public consultation drew strong participation and substantial written and spoken comments. Council is now reviewing them, and in particular the comments about the corridor's perimeter: where exactly the boundaries fall, and what that means in practical terms for the properties concerned. That was the question raised most often at the consultation.

The postponement is deliberate. An ecological corridor is a long-term tool: it maintains the connectivity of natural habitat on a landscape that otherwise fragments one lot at a time. For it to do that, the perimeter has to rest on solid ecological data—and it also has to be clear and verifiable for the owners concerned, lot by lot.

Council is therefore taking the time to validate the perimeter before settling it, so as to strike a fair balance between biodiversity, responsible development in our municipality, and respect for the owners concerned. Because this by-law will have a lasting effect, it will not be set in a hurry.

Thank you to everyone who came out on August 10, who wrote to us, and who spoke up. Reading a draft zoning by-law in the middle of August and coming back with a considered comment is a genuine commitment to this community.

Permits and wildlife habitat: meeting with the Ministry of the Environment on August 27

A number of residents have entirely legitimate projects—an addition, a garage, a septic system, a shed—that the Municipality cannot authorize because of constraints tied to wildlife habitat mapped on our territory.

These constraints are not a Council decision: they come from mapping and rules set by the Québec government and by the MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais, and they are binding on the Municipality. Our Planning and Sustainable Development staff are applying a rule they did not write.

Our team is working with both levels of government to find solutions as quickly as possible. A meeting with the Ministry of the Environment, together with the MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais, will take place on August 27. This is a priority file for the administration.

What this means if your file is blocked:

You do not need to do anything: our Planning and Sustainable Development Department will be in touch shortly if it has not already contacted you. If you have already spoken with them, they will follow up as soon as we have news, and your file will be treated as a priority. We will report back publicly once we have a solution to share.

Meredith Centre: toward a new agreement with the Chelsea Foundation

The Municipality and the Chelsea Foundation were until recently bound by a management agreement for the Meredith Centre. The firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton was mandated to review that partnership, and the Municipality received its final report at the start of the summer.

We are in discussion with the firm to arrange a presentation of the report to the Chelsea Foundation's representatives. The Foundation needs to see the findings and to be able to put its questions directly to the people who did the work. We will then sit down with the Foundation to establish a new agreement, one that complies with provincial legislation.

Activities at the Meredith Centre are not affected. Programming continues, the building stays open, and the groups that use it can plan their fall as usual. This is a governance file, not a service interruption.

The report will be made public once it has been presented to the Foundation.

October 5 provincial election: carrying Chelsea's priorities

I have begun meeting the candidates in the riding of Gatineau, which includes Chelsea, to put the Municipality's files in front of them. I have met David Logue (Parti libéral du Québec) and Bertin Aboussou (Parti conservateur du Québec). I expect to meet William Robertson (Coalition avenir Québec) and Raphaël Déry (Parti québécois) shortly. Québec solidaire has not yet named a candidate in the riding.

The goal is simple: that whoever is elected on October 5 moves Chelsea's files forward with the Québec government, whatever their political stripe.

The four priorities we are carrying

A new French-language elementary school. The Municipality has acquired the land. What is missing is the funding and the green light from the Québec government.

Investment in the provincially owned roads that run through our territory—chemin d'Old Chelsea first among them: road condition and safety are a provincial responsibility.

Funding for heavy municipal infrastructure, starting with our drinking water plant. Its capacity is the reason for the moratorium in effect in Chelsea, and that moratorium is holding back the development that makes sense for Chelsea: housing for young families who grew up here, and smaller homes for seniors who would like to stay in the community. A municipality of 9,000 people cannot carry an investment of that size alone.

An end to the chronic underfunding of the Outaouais, a gap our region has documented for years across nearly every sector.

Coffee chats with the Mayor—from Thursday, September 10, by appointment

Want to talk to me about a municipal issue, an idea for your sector, or something that isn't working—with no microphone, no agenda, and no procedure? The Mayor's coffee chats are for you. What I hear at these sessions genuinely shapes how I carry our files forward.

Time slots are available this fall, starting Thursday, September 10—registration is required. The procedure can also be found on the Facebook event. Everyone is welcome.

Making the Route 105 and chemin Saint-Clément intersection safer

Crossing on foot at the intersection of Route 105 and chemin Saint-Clément, in the Farm Point sector, is unsafe, and the problem applies to all vulnerable road users, not just pedestrians. Council has therefore awarded a professional services mandate to develop three redevelopment scenarios for this intersection, one of which must also address a safe connection between the multi-use path and Route 105. The scenarios will be presented to Council once we have received the final versions.

Farm Point: public information session on the wastewater treatment plant, October 22

Residents of the Farm Point sector who are connected to the wastewater treatment plant, or who will be, are invited to a public information session on Thursday, October 22. We will go through the sector debt tied to the facilities: what it costs, how it is being repaid, and when it will be fully paid off. The plant's operating costs will also be presented, and you will be able to ask your questions on site. The time and location will be announced on chelsea.ca, on our Facebook page and on PiVOT.

The open-water swimming corridor stays in place for one more week

Good news for open-water swimmers: the pilot project's swim corridor installations will be removed after September 7 rather than after August 31. They will stay in place through the end of the Labour Day long weekend, giving you one more week to enjoy them.

Take the opportunity to tell us what you think, too: this is a pilot project, and your feedback will shape what we do with it next year. Do you have ideas to improve the municipal dock site and the swim corridor? Share them by filling out our feedback form.

Our community summer

Demi-Marathon de la Voie Verte, August 16: close to 1,000 people ran the half-marathon distance here in Chelsea, on the Voie Verte. Thank you to the organizing committee and the volunteers—a fine way to showcase the Voie Verte and encourage active living.

TD Summer Book Club—closing activity Thursday, August 20, 2 to 3 p.m., at the municipal library: a bilingual workshop on fossils, rocks and minerals for ages 5 to 12. No registration required.

Blood drive on August 25 at the Meredith Centre, organized by our Fire Department—the third of the year.

International recognition: our library hosted delegations from the 40^th World Congress of IBBY—the International Board on Books for Young People—held in Ottawa from August 6 to 9, to present its youth services.

Free Play in the parks of Hollow Glen, Farm Point and du Ruisseau, in partnership with Maison de la famille l'Étincelle and thanks to a grant from the Fondation Philanthropie Outaouais, which also stocked the self-serve equipment bins in our parks.

Cooking workshops for ages 14 to 17 on July 14, 21 and 28, as well as August 4, 11, 18 and 25, with the Centre d'emploi des Collines.

Thank you to our firefighters. Three of our auxiliary firefighters have been deployed with SOPFEU—32 days so far —in Joncas, Maniwaki, and Val-d'Or—protecting communities that are not their own.

Brian Nolan

Mayor of Chelsea

This page was last updated on August 19, 2026