Lac‑Mégantic railway bypass expropriation

Summary#

This is a notice under the Expropriation Act that the federal government, through the Department of Public Works and Government Services, intends to take pieces of land in the municipality of Frontenac to build and operate a railway bypass around Lac‑Mégantic. The notice was published on February 18, 2023, and affected owners were given 30 days from that date to object.

What it does#

• Lists specific parts of many land parcels (identified by cadastral lot numbers) that the government intends to expropriate for a railway bypass around Lac‑Mégantic.
• Names the landowners whose property is affected. Examples include Jean‑Guy Couture, Roger Carrier, Céline Lessard, R.P. Carrier Inc., AT Capital Inc., 9064‑0350 Québec Inc., Denis Vachon, Émilien Mercier, François Gendron, Kurt Lucas, Monique Lacroix, Guy Nadeau, Renée‑Claude Drouin, Tanya Ouellette, and David Boulet.
• Covers both land and “immovable real rights,” which includes the rights of any tenants or lessees on those parcels.
• Refers to survey plans prepared for the parcels and asks the land registrar to register the notice against the listed properties.
• Identifies the project need as being for Transport Canada (the federal department responsible for the railway bypass).

Additional concrete details shown in the notice:

• Parcels listed range in size from about 1,467.8 s.m. up to 40,497.2 s.m..

Who's affected#

• The named property owners and any tenants or lessees on the listed parcels in Frontenac. The Gazette notice lists owners for Articles 1 through 11 and specific parcel identifiers.
• Nearby residents and businesses may notice the effects of planning and construction for a new rail alignment, though the notice directly concerns only the listed properties.
• Transport Canada and the federal property office are the government bodies driving the work.

If you are not named in the notice, it is unclear from this item whether your property is affected. The published plans and the land register entry (referenced in the notice) show the exact parcels.

Why it matters#

• A federal expropriation notice is the first formal step that lets the government acquire private land for a public project. Owners named in the notice can object within 30 days of publication (February 18, 2023).
• For affected owners and tenants, this can mean loss of land or changes to property use. It also starts the process that leads to compensation and, later, construction activity.
• For local residents, a railway bypass can change traffic patterns, noise and land use near the new alignment. The notice is the point at which those changes move from planning toward action.

If you want to check whether a specific parcel is listed, or to learn how to raise an objection, the notice includes contact details and refers to the survey plans and land‑register entry (these are the official sources for the exact parcel boundaries).