Canadian City Parks Report 2020

City Profile

Gatineau

Quebec
Population: 284373

Gatineau has the third highest amount of parkland per population, with nearly 18 hectares per 1,000 people.
At 66%, Gatineau has the fourth highest ratio of parkland that is natural area.
Gatineau is one of 52% of cities with a policy to waive park permit fees for financial need.

After 2017 and 2019 floods required residents to vacate their properties in the Pointe-Gatineau neighbourhood, the city has dedicated $1.4 million to redevelop and beautify the now-vacant lots.
Gatineau hosted an internal parks forum with speakers and brainstorm sessions to kick-off their parks master plan process, inviting city councillors, city staff, and non-profit partners.
In 2019, the annual Grand Ménage clean-up activity which targets green spaces had a budget of $32,000 and mobilized more than 16,000 participants who collected around 5 tonnes of waste.

Data 2020

17.6

ha parkland per 1000 people

5,000 ha of total parkland¹

66%

of total parkland is natural area

3310 total ha

<1%

of parkland is environmentally significant/protected

10 total ha

15%

of total city land is parkland

34194 ha of total city area

Dog parks

Community gardens/urban farms

800 m

Parkland provision goal (distance to park)

Neighbourhood park: 800 m

Community park: 800 to 5,000 m

community park groups

Yes

Policy to waive permit fees for groups with financial need?

Community garden grants

Community grant program

$86

Parks operating budget per person

$24,500,000 total

$5,000,000

Total parks capital budget

Yes

Provincially legislated tools available for parkland development

10% of the development site or cash-in-lieu

¹This total does not include roughly 2300 hectares of provincially or federally owned green space in the city. In addition, 41% of land within the city is agriculturally zoned, protecting it from development. Extreme weather events and floods have had significant impacts on Gatineau’s park system this year.