Public Notice

Rehabilitation of Bird Habitat Islands - Hamilton Harbour, Ontario– Public Comments Invited

January 28, 2025 – The Canada Water Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada must determine whether the proposed Rehabilitation of Bird Habitat Islands Project, located in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, the Canada Water Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada are inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.
Written comments must be submitted by February 28, 2025, to:

Canada Water Agency
Sara Varty, Senior Program Coordinator
4905 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4
Telephone: 647-537-5479
Email: sara.varty@ec.gc.ca

The Proposed Project- Rehabilitation of Bird Habitat Islands - Hamilton Harbour, Ontario

The project will rehabilitate  up to four (4) islands - Neare Island, North Island, Centre Island, and South Island—in Hamilton Harbour, located in Burlington, Ontario. The islands were purpose-built in 1997 to restore fish and wildlife habitat impairments as part of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan.  These islands were designed to support colonial waterbird nesting habitat and to enhance submerged vegetation growth between the islands and the shore.

Over time, higher water levels have caused substantial flooding and erosion, degrading the islands' surface area and reducing space for nesting habitat. This project will improve the islands' resiliency by enhancing shoreline armouring against wave action and erosion and increasing their overall elevation. 

The proposed work will increase the surface area of the islands to meet the original design objective of 1.5 hectares and ensure long-term stability of the islands.   The work will include surface habitat enhancements for ground nesting birds like Caspian terns and common terns.  Fish habitat enhancements will be considered where they complement in-water modifications being undertaken to repair the islands. Construction materials will be barged to the site and incorporated into the final works with a hydraulic shovel/crane. The materials include armour stone, limestone, sand and pea gravel.  

Project work will adhere to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) guidelines to avoid harm to fish and aquatic habitats, focusing on minimizing in-water activities during sensitive periods and using low-impact machinery.  In-water work will avoid the restricted activity timing windows, from March 15 to July 15, to protect fish, their eggs, juveniles, spawning adults, and the organisms upon which they feed.  A DFO Request for Review will be completed to determine if a Fisheries Act Authorization is required for the proposed works. The construction timeline will avoid sensitive periods to avoid disturbing fish spawning and bird nesting, and the work will take place during ice-free months between September 2025 and March 2026. Additionally, project work will avoid bird nesting periods (March to August) for bird species such as Canada Geese, Mute Swans, Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Common Tern, Caspian Tern and Black-crowned Night-Heron.

All work, both in water and on land, is for the purpose of habitat enhancement and is expected to result in a net gain in quantity and quality of bird habitat. Therefore, the measures to avoid harm are limited to best management practices during construction.  Potential disturbances that may occur include suspended solids/turbidity from machinery and movement of equipment.  Construction will be controlled to mitigate, to the extent practical, the entry of any debris, fill (except for the specified materials) or other foreign matter into the waterway. If required, the work areas will be cordoned off by silt curtains.  Overall, the project aims to enhance bird habitat with no anticipated negative impacts to fish habitat.