Montreal will be the first municipality in North America to completely ban the sale of more than 100 pesticide products for domestic use, Mayor Valérie Plante announced [August 19].

“Our goal is clear: it’s to make Montreal free of pesticides,” she said at a press conference at the Botanical Garden.

“Montreal is the first city in the country to go this far,” she added.

A bylaw to be adopted in September will bar the use of 36 substances, including the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Also on the list is chlorpyrifos, used against insects and other pests, and some neonicotinoids, used in agriculture, pest control and to protect trees from invasive insects.

Under the new bylaw, big box retailers, hardware stores and garden centres will be required to remove banned products from their shelves.

The use of synthetic pesticides for gardening will be prohibited. Such products will only be permitted for use against plants that pose a threat to human health, like poison ivy, or to save trees, for example to combat the emerald ash borer.

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