Quebec orders couple who built an illegal golf course to restore wetlands

Residents in Austin, Que., are demanding answers after the town revealed a private golf course linked to Gildan CEO Glenn Chamandy was built without approval, damaging farmland and a maple grove.

Quebec’s environment ministry has ordered the owners of an illegally constructed private golf course and manmade lake to restore the wetlands and bodies of water that were destroyed.

Gildan clothing CEO Glenn Chamandy and his wife Amel Murad began building the golf course in Austin, Que., in the Eastern Townships without the consent of the municipality in 2025.

The Quebec government has now said the couple needs to return the land “to the state they were in before the start of the work, or to a state close to it.”

“On July 31, 2025, an inspection revealed that deforestation, excavation and soil reworking to create an artificial lake in a wooded peat bog, as well as work to modify the course of a watercourse, to reinforce the banks and shoreline with riprap, to destroy riparian vegetation and to cover the banks with mulch, had been carried out without ministerial authorization,” the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks said in a news release.

The ministry said a first notice of non-compliance was sent in August, and to date, “no acceptable restoration plan has been submitted.”

In February, a notice of the order was served, giving the couple two weeks to submit observations. The ministry said that no change to the property was noticed.

The couple must submit a restoration plan and carry out the work within 45 days of the notice from the government.

They must also submit a certified, signed report from a professional showing that the work has been carried out. Then, they must carry out environmental monitoring for the next five years.

“The Ministry remains committed to resolving this situation and is not ruling out any recourse to ensure the return to compliance of the affected batches,” the ministry said.

Residents in the town, located about 130 kilometres southeast of Montreal near the U.S. border, packed a town hall meeting in September, voicing their ire at the construction, which damaged a farmland and a maple grove.