The Artists' Union Associates Itself with the Cemetery's Green Plan

The Artists' Union and The Artists' Foundation hold two major concessions at the Cemetery that total over 2,000 sq. ft. Since their creation in the heart of the cemetery, these concessions have been home to many artists who've developed and enriched Montreal’s and Quebec’s cultural life in their professional lives.

As part of the agreement between the parties, The Artists' Union and their subsequent Foundation agree to have their land included in the ecological restoration project of the cemetery grounds, which involves replacing the grassy areas with a variety of native and/or biodiversity-friendly perennials approved for planting and representing species found in Mount Royal’s natural environment.

A variety of plant species will be featured in the new landscape. The first zone will be seeded with “Eco-Louse” mix, which includes the following species: yarrow, woodland strawberry, ground ivy, allheal, wall pepper and dwarf thyme. The second zone will be seeded with “Renature Sauvage” mix, which includes the following species: cornflower, black-eyed Susan, yarrow, red fescue, Canada bluegrass, sheep fescue, birdsfoot trefoil, Rocky Mountain fescue and white clover.

This transformation of the land’s vegetation cover will significantly reduce maintenance work, eliminate the use of polluting practices and equipment, enhance biodiversity for the benefit of Mount Royal’s flora and fauna and increase the area’s resilience to climate change.

The land conversion work is underway, and the seeding of the new species is complete. The Cemetery will monitor the growth of the new species regularly and maintain the grounds using methods and equipment that limit noise and other forms of pollution, and that consider the grounds’ aesthetic and landscape qualities. These environmentally friendly practices will include the pruning of plants in cold periods and the natural composting of pruning residues.

“The green plan, which we began implementing two years ago, brings together a series of initiatives aimed at significantly improving our environmental performance to meet the expectations of our clients, while developing a range of new services that allow our clients and bereaved families to participate in the ecological conversion of the entire site. These collaborative agreements with the Union des artistes and the Artists’ Foundation illustrate the new partnerships that will allow us to move forward, and we are very pleased about it,” says Éric Choinière, Customer Service Direction at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery.