Quebec invests $123M to redevelop Esso refinery site in Montreal East

Premier Christine Fréchette announced Tuesday that the province will invest $122.9 million to redevelop the site of a former oil refinery in Montreal East which she says will attract private investment and create jobs.

“This is a major transformation that we are beginning, starting in Eastern Montreal,” Premier Fréchette said.

“We are talking about seven million square feet of land, which equates to 25 IKEA stores, or 50 Costco stores, so you can imagine, the amount of land it represents and the potential, the economic potential of this territory.”

The funding will be invested in Société de mise en valeur de terrains dans l’Est de Montréal (SMTEM) to buy and decontaminate the land — between Notre Dame and Sherbrooke streets — which belonged to Imperial Oil which owns the Esso gas station chain. The decontamination could take several years.

The Quebec government envisions sectors related to certain technology industries being situated there in the future.

“We can think about green technology, for example, aerospace sector, defense sector, artificial intelligence, AI sector,” Fréchette said. “The possibilities are very large, but what I want to make sure is that there will be interesting jobs.”

Tuesday’s announcement follows Fréchette’s promised to invest in revitalizing the industrial corridor during her leadership campaign earlier this year. Since 2019, Quebec has invested nearly $323 million, including the latest round of investment, which will be managed by Investissement Québec.

SMTEM was created in 2023 by Fondaction Gestion d’actifs with the mandate to acquire and rehabilitate land in eastern Montreal with a focus on sustainable development.

The Chambre de commerce de l’est de Montréal (CCEM), which has for years lobbied for government investment to decontaminate and redevelop industrial sites in Montreal’s East End, said the acquisition of the Esso site has the potential to revitalize the whole region.

“Thanks to its exceptional location near the Port of Montreal, rail networks, major highways, and a world-renowned industrial expertise hub, this site is among the most strategically important land in Canada,” CCEM said in a statement. “Its development could become one of the most significant economic revitalization projects in the metropolis in decades.”

CCEM president and CEO Jean-Denis Charest said the government should commit to more investments to build infrastructure in the area to turn it into an economic zone.

“This acquisition is a fundamental step, but its success now depends on our ability to act quickly and collectively,” Charest said. “We must accelerate decontamination, deploy the necessary infrastructure, confirm a structured public transit project, and implement an ambitious investment attraction strategy.

“Those lands have everything that investors are looking for, so if we can put them on the market and they are ready to develop, I’m expecting billions of dollars in investment to come in Montreal and to build a whole new economy for our territory, with paying jobs, with innovation, with universities. This is opening a new era for Montreal, for Quebec, and for the East End of Montreal.”

Chantal Rouleau, the minister responsible for the Montreal region and MNA for Pointe-aux-Trembles, said, “For far too long, our region has been waiting for its immense potential to be fully recognized. With this major investment, our government—the Fréchette government—is taking a decisive step toward transforming strategic land into vibrant communities and true drivers of economic development and innovation.”

Montreal East Mayor Anne St-Laurent also welcomed the investment.

“After more than thirty-five years of vacancy and contamination, this concrete step will enable us to redevelop a strategic site and prepare it to host promising projects that will create wealth and quality jobs, generating benefits that will extend throughout Quebec,” St-Laurent said.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, who had pledged during her municipal election campaign, to revitalize the East End, said the province’s investment was a concrete step in the direction.

“Remediating and redeveloping strategic sites creates the right conditions to attract businesses, investments, and quality jobs. That’s what it means to believe in the potential of the east,” Martinez Ferrada said.

“There is a lot of potential for creating the jobs that we need, and especially for the people that live in the east part of Montreal, but also gives the impulse for companies and investors to come, but also to eventually hopefully have a transportation that will bring the people to the work and the homes.”

The province has also funded other projects like the tramway, the extension of the Blue line metro and renovation of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital as well as the expansion of the operating room wing at Santa Cabrini Hospital.

The seven million square feet site is not the only industrial land being targeted; another 23 million square feet site in the area is being looked at for redevelopment.

“Now we’re acquiring seven million, but there’s about 30 million to be rehabilitated,” said Stéphan Morency, the CEO of Fondaction and administrator of SMTEM/ “So that’s almost like a city within the city. So what makes it exciting is to redevelop such a surface, such a landmark in a city like Montreal.”