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Farmers and local elected officials in Repentigny, Que., are calling for the high-speed rail project to be canceled over concerns it could damage farmland and threaten their livelihoods.
Guillaume Alary, a third-generation crop farmer, said he worries the proposed railroad would divide his property and fundamentally change the life his family built there.
“I’m concerned about my land, my family. I’m concerned about my neighbor’s land and family,” Alary told Global News, Thursday.
Alary owns more than 260 acres of land, where he grows wheat, corn, soybeans and produces hay. His family’s farming history on the property dates back to his grandfather.
But the farmer said he now wonders how much land could be lost if the project goes ahead.
“Am I going to lose half my land? Am I going to lose my house?”
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Alary said he was aware of the project earlier in the year but was never consulted. “I’m annoyed by projects that are not transparent,” he said.
Alto, the federal agency overseeing the project, is proposing a high-speed rail link between Quebec City and Toronto. Most of the proposed routes are mapped along agricultural land.
Opposition also came from regional farmers’ unions. “Now what we have to do is stop the project,” said Simon Duval, regional president of the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) in Lanaudière.
Duval said farmers could face significant detours if the railroad cuts through their land, potentially hurting their profits.
“Half of your land will be on the other side. So the detour you have to make to access the other side will damage the financial aspect of that side,” he said.
In a statement to Global News, an Alto spokesperson said the agency held consultations earlier this year and received 20,000 comments.
“As the corridor approaches urban areas such as Repentigny, the priority is to identify routes that minimize impacts on residential environments and agricultural land,” the statement said.
Bloc Québécois MP Patrick Bonin, who represents Repentigny, said he could not support the project. “There was no proper public consultation and environmental assessment,” Bonin said.
Repentigny town councilor Normand Urbain also raised concerns about how farmers would move equipment between properties if their land was separated by railway tracks.
“Imagine there’s a train passing right through the middle of your farm and you have to get your tractor from one side to the other. You can’t cross the tracks,” Urbain said.
For Alary, the uncertainty surrounding the project has made him worry not only about his farm, but also about the way of life passed down from generation to generation.
“(I) will lose part of my reason for living,” he said.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
