Mayor’s Message — September 2026: the candidates’ answers, the wildlife habitat timeline, Meech Creek and the Musie ponds

The school year is underway and autumn is at our doorstep. It is my favourite season in Chelsea: Gatineau Park changes colour from one week to the next, sunrises on the river come later, and the evenings turn cool enough that you want a blanket — including at Friday’s outdoor movie night.

Four dates before anything else: outdoor movie night at Hollow Glen Park, this Friday, September 18; Monday, September 28, the last day to comment on the Farm Point municipal dock and the open-water swim corridor; Wednesday, September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which the Municipality will mark; and Monday, October 5, provincial election day.

This month, Council also took two decisions to enhance the Municipality's conservation efforts and secured a timeline on a file that is a major inconvenience for many residents. Here is where each of them stands.

 

Provincial election: the candidates’ answers are online

On October 5, we choose who speaks for us at the National Assembly. That vote will bear on several files that matter to this municipality — four files that rest entirely with the Québec government: a new French-language elementary school, the provincially owned roads that run through our territory, funding for the drinking water plant, and the chronic underfunding of the Outaouais.

On September 1, I sent the same four questions to the candidates of the five main parties in the riding of Gatineau. Four of them answered. Their answers are published in full, here.

I undertook to publish the answers as given, and that is what we are doing.

The same questions went to every candidate, with the same deadline. The answers are reproduced with no commentary, no analysis and no corrections from the Municipality. Parties appear in alphabetical order under each question. Where an answer was received in French only, the Municipality translated it and submitted the translation to the candidate for approval before publication. Every major party provided answers, except the Parti Québécois.

Whatever the outcome, the Municipality will work with the member elected, without partisanship.

Read them and make up your own mind. And don't forget to exercise your right to vote on October 5^th.

 

Wildlife habitat: a timeline through to spring 2027

Following the August 27 meeting with the Ministry of the Environment, the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais, and our expert legal council, all stakeholders agreed that the regulatory text blocking certain resident projects needs to be adjusted. The MRC will adopt an interim control by-law (ICB) to make that happen. These regulatory changes will also affect every municipality under the MRC’s authority.

A reminder of the problem. A number of residents have 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, particularly in the Hollow Glen sector, but elsewhere as well. These constraints are not a decision of Council: they come from mapping and rules set by the Québec government and by the MRC, and they are binding on the Municipality. Our Urbanism staff are applying a rule they did not write.

The anticipated timeline

• September 2026: the MRC, the Municipality of Chelsea and the Ministry draft the regulatory text.
• October 2026: the MRC will table a notice of motion and its draft by-law before the Council of Mayors.
• November 2026: subject to the process being accepted, the Council of Mayors will be able to adopt the new interim control by-law.
• Afterward: the by-law will be submitted to the Government of Québec, which has a statutory 60-day period to verify that the ICB complies with government orientations.
• February/March 2027: if the by-law is found to comply and the process unfolds as planned, the main required steps should have been cleared.
• Spring 2027: the goal is to resume accepting and processing the affected permit applications.

What this means if your file is blocked

Residents who had submitted a permit application that was refused or cancelled because of this situation will be prioritized, so they can move forward as quickly as possible once the new regulatory framework is in force. You do not need to take any steps yourself: the Urbanism Department is following these files.

I understand that this timeline may seem long, particularly for those who had planned work this year. We would have preferred to move much faster, but the regulatory process rests with levels of government that are not ours. I will report back publicly at each step cleared.

 

Meech Creek: Council adopts the habitat connectivity area

On September 15, Council adopted the by-law establishing the Meech Creek habitat connectivity area. It is the fourth area of its kind in Chelsea, after Breckenridge, Larrimac and ruisseau Chelsea.

It is one more step toward living in harmony with the environment, here in Chelsea. Development in this sector can now proceed responsibly, without constantly fragmenting the habitats that sustain our biodiversity, and while protecting our natural environments.

Council took the proposed boundary under deliberation and analyzed it against the ecological realities of the sector and the impact on the properties concerned. That analysis is what led to the boundary adopted.

If your property falls inside the area, your current buildings and property are grandfathered. Certain uses are framed so the habitat link keeps working — the same approach already in place at Larrimac and ruisseau Chelsea. To find out exactly what applies to your lot, contact the Urbanism Department.

Thanks to the people who did the work. This by-law rests on research carried out by residents and local organizations. They did the walking, the observing and the documenting — long before any of it reached a council agenda.

Click here to find our more and see the map of the area.

 

Musie ponds: close to 30 acres protected in perpetuity

This was our second conservation decision of the month.

The Municipality has signed a conservation easement with ACRE to permanently protect close to 30 acres of land in the Musie ponds area. It has also acquired, through the biodiversity fund, a lot providing official access to the protected area from chemin Musie.

Those 30 acres are not isolated: they contribute to the conservation of a natural complex of more than 87 acres of forest and wetland of high ecological value.

Why “in perpetuity” changes everything. A conservation easement is associated with the land, not with the owner. It prevents uses incompatible with conservation — development and unsustainable harvesting first among them — and it does not expire. What we protect today, no one can touch later.

Thank you to ACRE, whose volunteers have been working on this corner of Chelsea for many years.

 

Farm Point: new uses allowed under the zoning by-law

On September 15, Council adopted an amendment to the zoning by-law allowing new uses in the Farm Point sector.

The amendment opens the door to neighbourhood services. The first to set up are a massage therapy and physiotherapy practice. It is a modest change, and it is exactly the kind of local vitality we want for our sectors: a service a few minutes from home, instead of having to drive to Gatineau.

 

Farm Point municipal dock: comments until September 28

The open-water swim season ended on September 8 and the marked corridor has been removed. The municipal dock remains open for everyone to enjoy until the end of October.

This was the first full season for the swim corridor. The honest way to decide what next season looks like is to ask the people who actually used it — and the people who live right beside it. Everything is open for comment: the dock, the corridor, the signage, the parking, the noise, the hours. You have until Monday, September 28 to send us your comments, using the feedback form: consultations.chelsea.ca

After September 28, we will work with the comments we have received to plan next year.

 

District meetings: the report has been tabled

The report summarizing the district meetings held with the Mayor was tabled at Council on September 15 and is available on the municipal website here.

It sets out, district by district, what was said at the meetings, along with an overall summary.

The dates and locations of the next district meetings, this fall, will be announced shortly. We will use the opportunity to follow up on the spring discussions and to hear from you on the issues that matter to you.

 

Parking at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre

I raised the new parking fee at the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre with the National Capital Commission (NCC). I made two requests: to delay the fee coming into effect, and to adjust the hours during which it applies. Those requests were not accepted.

The parking lot belongs to the NCC, and the decision is theirs to make. What I can tell you is that the concerns of people here have been put forward clearly, and they will continue to be.

This brings parking in the village core back to the forefront. We will keep working with the merchants and the people of the sector so that the heart of the village stays accessible — to those who live there as much as to those who come to walk, to eat and to head out on the trails.

 

Outdoor movie night at Hollow Glen, Friday, September 18

Outdoor movie night returns to Hollow Glen park on Friday, September 18, with a screening of Zootopia 2. It’s free. Details and start time can be found here.

Bring a blanket and dress warmly — in mid-September the field cools off quickly once the sun goes down. It is free, it is outdoors, and it is one of the rare evenings where a whole neighbourhood ends up in the same place. Bring your neighbours.

 

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

On September 30, the Municipality will mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. An invitation to join Council for the occasion will be sent to you shortly.

 

What's been going on since the last Council meeting

• Outdoor movie night at Chelsea Elementary, August 21. Around a hundred people came out for a French-language screening of Sauteurs, with activities run by Expério. A fundraiser for the young people of Mashado let people pick up candy and popcorn during the film. Thank you to the families who came and to those who organized the evening.
• Public Works. Our Public Works crew repainted Station 3 and the Hollow Glen community centre this summer. It is the kind of work you only notice when it has not been done. Thank you to the team.
• Tenaga’s 100th anniversary. I took part in the celebrations marking the centennial of the Tenaga community. A hundred years of people settling there, building, and staying — and whose children and grandchildren still come back. What struck me was not the party itself: it was how close-knit that community is. People know each other by name and know who built what, and when. Tenaga is a reminder that Chelsea is a patchwork of small, tightly woven communities. Happy centennial.
• A visit to the Pepper Pod. I visited the Pepper Pod, on chemin Baldwin in Farm Point, with Deputy Mayor Rita Jain. It is a retreat centre for women veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP. They come here from across Canada to rest, to heal and to connect, after a career most of us cannot imagine. The centre exists thanks to the remarkable leadership of Sandra Perron, a whole crew of volunteers and donors, and — a special mention — the neighbours on chemin Hammond who turned up with equipment and elbow grease. We came away proud that it is here, and proud of how this community helped make it happen. pepperpod.ca

 

Staying in touch

Three ways to reach us before the end of the month: the Farm Point dock feedback form, open until September 28; the next district meetings, whose dates will be announced shortly; and question period, at every Council meeting.

If you have a question about what the ruisseau Meech connectivity area means for your property, or about a permit file blocked by wildlife habitat, do not wait for the next meeting. The Urbanism Department is the best door to knock on, and the shortest route to an answer about your own lot.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy the fall.

 

Brian Nolan

Mayor of Chelsea

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This page was last updated on September 16, 2026