Montreal says city is ‘ready’ for possible flooding as river levels rise

“It's going to go up,” said Eric Sauvé, a Pierrefonds resident living near Rivière des Prairies, as the City of Montreal prepares for possible flooding because river levels could peak Sunday. Gareth Madoc-Jones reports.

By News Staff

Posted April 17, 2026 11:58 am.

Last Updated April 17, 2026 5:41 pm.

Montreal activated its Special Intervention Plan (PPI) this week as water levels rise along the Ottawa River and Rivière des Prairies, though officials say no flooding has been observed so far – and on Thursday, they pushed that to a level 3, the highest level.

Despite the rising rivers, the city says there is currently no flooding on the ground. Residents in at-risk areas are being urged to stay informed through municipal alerts and local updates as conditions continue to evolve.

“Our role is to reassure the public and to demonstrate that we do everything humanly possible to protect the sectors and the well-being of our communities,” said Jim Beis, who is responsible for security and prevention as part of Montreal’s executive committee.

“Sunday, they’re announcing the water level to be at its highest this spring, which may lead us in Pierrefonds, for example, to have to close l’Anse à l’Orme or and the Seneville bridge that connects Seneville to Pierrefonds, and there are other decisions that will have to be made when the time comes.”

A barrier set up in Ahuntsic-Cartierville at the end of Notre-Dame-des-Anges Street – next to the Rivière des Prairies – to stop flooding in the residential area on April 17, 2026. (Gareth Madoc-Jones, CityNews)

Preventive flood protection measures have already been deployed in several sectors, including Pierrefonds-Roxboro, L’Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève and Ahuntsic-Cartierville. These include temporary dikes, pumps, inflatable barriers and valve closures at key infrastructure points, with additional installations planned in the coming days.

“We’re looking into what’s happening upstream so to see what the impact will be here in our city, but also in the West Island and with other cities. So we are just ready to react and ready to prevent and help the citizens if they need to,” said Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada.

Jim Beis (left), responsible for security and prevention with Montreal’s Executive Committee and also the borough mayor of Pierrefonds Roxboro, Soraya Martinez Ferrada (middle), Mayor of Montreal, Effie Giannou (right), City Councillor for the Bordeaux-Cartierville, at a press conference in Ahuntsic-Cartierville on April 17, 2026. (Gareth Madoc-Jones, CityNews)

In Pierrefonds-Roxboro, barriers and pumping systems have been installed or are being set up along multiple streets and near the filtration plant, while similar protections are in place around Parc Terrasse-Sacré-Cœur in L’Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève. Officials say further measures remain on standby depending on water levels.

Flows at Carillon on the Ottawa River were measured at about 6,100 m³/s Friday morning, with forecasts calling for a potential peak near 7,050 m³/s on April 18. The Rivière des Prairies is also running high at roughly 2,400 m³/s and continuing to increase.

City officials say they are maintaining close monitoring of river conditions and possible impacts along shorelines, including checking for encampments in vulnerable riverside areas. No injuries or major incidents have been reported.

“When you arrive here, it’s really obvious because there’s a marker that’s in place all year round, so you can really see the difference,” said Janie Hallé-Bolduc, an Ahunstic-Cartierville resident living near Rivière des Prairies.

Maurice Van Themsche, another Ahuntsic-Cartierville resident living near Rivière des Prairies, said, “I don’t think there’s going to be a big issue, I mean, and I know that the city has a lot of leeway, you know, for the next step, so I’m not that nervous at all. I should maybe, but I’m not.”

In Pierrefonds, modular plastic dams are now being used to block water from the Rivière des Prairies as an alternative to sandbags.

“Well I’m thinking it’s going to go up because just since yesterday it went up a couple of inches for sure maybe a foot and now with that wall there there’s about four feet of leeway so that means that we’re okay I’m confident that it won’t go over the wall for sure it’ll stay on that because in 2017 it was awful we had water up to the house so it was just different now so they keep it closer to the river,” said Eric Sauvé, a Pierrefonds resident living near Rivière des Prairies.

Beis says, “Because the water level is projected on Sunday to be at that level, we know that the first point of impact will be the western portion, which now we’ve sealed off, and now we can move eastward to continue our interventions accordingly.”