Lachine Marina will not be rebuilt, as group push for a public swimming area

After years of back-and-forth, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said the Lachine Marina will not be reinstated, as a local group continues to push for a public swimming area.

The Lachine Marina will not return. Soraya Martinez Ferrada’s Ensemble Montreal administration will not shell out the $55 million to repair and restore the marina, which the mayor says would have “no guarantee of viability.” “In the current context, as we work to realign the city’s finances, we must make responsible—albeit difficult—choices,” Martinez Ferrada said in a statement.

“The current project protects the investments already made, provides waterfront access that is open to everyone year-round, and allows us to continue enhancing the site as we move through the next phases.” The marina closed in 2021 and was torn down in 2025. The mayor said she is not ruling out considering a future marina should a “viable funding solution” arise.

The debate about what to do with the marina site is ongoing. Valérie Plante‘s former administration proposing a waterfront park with a swimming area in 2020 . That plan has not been continued by the new administration.

This is good news for the Fondation Rivières, which is holding its 23rd “Grand Splash” in Lachine on Sunday. The event, traditionally held at the Old Port, draws attention to the need for open water swimming options on the Island of Montreal.

“In a context of global warming and almost non-existent access to water in Quebec, this event is one of citizen mobilization to jump or paddle in the water of the St. Lawrence River and thus demand better public access to the banks and an open water swimming area in Montreal,” the foundation says. “The borough of Lachine had obtained all the necessary permits to launch an open-water swimming pool, a modest project, but the new administration decided to cancel it.” The foundation points out that the swimming area would become just the fourth Montreal access to the river, and that only one of these beaches (Verdun) is accessible by metro.

With reporting from CTV News Montreal journalist Olivia O’Malley.