The city of Montreal has banned a list of pesticides that it hopes eventually will be a template for all of Canada to follow.
Implemented in 2022 for residential users, the ban by the city's executive committee of 32 active ingredients will now affect golf courses, as well. The ban goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025.
The ban includes fungicides like chlorothalonil and iprodione; herbicides like 2,4-D and glyphosate; as well as insecticides such as chlorpyrifos, carbaryl and all neonicotinoids.
There are some exceptions that allow for use of 2,4-D for weed control between April 15-June 15, and chlorothalonil for control of gray and pink snow mold between Oct. 15-Dec. 1.
Although several municipalities throughout Canada have implemented pesticide bans for residential use, Montreal is believed to be the first to apply such use restrictions to golf.
The ban has been tested the past two years on one of the city's eight golf courses, and according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. the fairways exhibit patches of clover.
Marie-Andrée Mauger, director of environment and ecological transition for the city of Montreal, said in a statement that she hopes other jurisdictions throughout Quebec and across Canada will follow her city's lead in an effort to protect "human health and biodiversity."
Without options in place that do not result in patches of clover and other weeds, some believe such a ban is in contrast to the demands of golfers today.
"In no way is this a surprise to me," said Miranda Robinson, operations manager for the British Columbia Golf Superintendents Association. "Quebec has led the charge on all pesticide restrictions in Canada, and this has been threatening us for years."
A list of banned as well as approved alternatives is available here (in French).
Fines for violating the new ruling range from $500 for first-time offenders to as much as $4,000 for repeat violators.
Robinson said some superintendents in other parts of Canada have been withholding water and pesticides from out-of-the-way areas on their golf courses so members can see what they should expect when restrictions on synthetic pesticides and water come their way.
Golfers, she said, were not impressed by the conditions that they might one day have to play under. She also believes superintendents would be well advised to embrace the future and learn how to work within such restrictions, the greenkeepers have in parts of Europe, where pesticide restrictions are in place.
"We would be very smart," Robinson said, "to be sending our professionals to the UK to learn how life is going to be because the future is coming at us and education is what will save our profession as always."