Keeping green spaces clean: park warden pilot project in Montreal’s CDN-NDG borough

Tall trees, birds chirping – Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges–NDG borough is filled with green spaces but it’s also seeing garbage cans overflowing and litter. To help keep their parks clean, safe, and beautiful the borough launched a park warden pilot project.

“They are really there to clean the parks,” said Borough Mayor, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa.

“I was a park warden myself, you know, during CEGEP,” she explained. “I know this is really useful, an extra service that is really appreciated by the population.”

CDN-NDG Mayor, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, helps clean NDG park while explaining their park warden pilot project on July 8, 2022. (Credit: Pamela Pagano/CityNews)

“It’s a position for students mostly,” said Katahwa. “It allows you during the summer to get extra money that you could save for your school, for example.”

“But anybody really could apply,” she added.

Wardens can be spotted in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Park, Martin Luther-King Park, and Mackenzie King Park on weekdays.
On weekends, they can be seen roaming around in Côte-des-Neiges at Jean-Brillant Park – all on-site from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

CityNews Montreal reporter, Pamela Pagano, joins the Mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–NDG, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, to clean one of the four parks a part of the park warden pilot project. (Credit: Matt Tornabene/CityNews)

“We could definitely say that during the pandemic people reclaimed their parks,” said Katahwa. “It’s really became clear that this is their their backyards for the people that lives in the in the city.”

The borough hopes to make the pilot project permanent as of next summer, and extend it to most of its parks.

“I find it clean,” said one Montrealer enjoying the green space. “(Park NDG) one of the nicer parks in Montreal.”

As current park wardens are on the lookout for litter – the borough is on the lookout for more people to join the project.

“I think it’s an it’s an interesting experience,” said Katahwa. “You spend the summer outside, you know, in the sun.”

“If they appreciate the quality of our parks, I’m happy as a mayor.”