Kruger Products and Canada’s National Capital Commission (NCC) have opened Confluence Park, a new 10,000-square-metre public green space developed on part of the company’s Laurier tissue plant property in Gatineau, Quebec.

The project transforms approximately 13% of the tissue plant’s land into publicly accessible green space while allowing manufacturing operations to continue at the historic industrial site.

Located along Laurier Street and beside the Capital Pathway, the park provides views across the Ottawa River toward Parliament Hill and creates new pedestrian and cycling access to the waterfront.

Industrial Land Transformed Into Public Green Space

Development of Confluence Park has taken place in several phases since 2022 through cooperation between Kruger Products and the NCC.

The project involved extensive landscaping as well as improvements to the industrial property and surrounding streetscape.

Hundreds of trees and shrubs have been planted, while lighting around the site has been modernized. Improvements have also been made to the façade of Kruger Products’ Laurier tissue plant.

For the NCC, the development represents an opportunity to convert part of a predominantly industrial waterfront into a space that can be used by the wider community.

NCC Chair Maryse Gaudreault said the project allows visitors to experience the river, natural environment and history of an area previously associated primarily with industrial activity.

Tissue Production Continues at Historic Site

An important aspect of the project is the coexistence of industrial manufacturing and public space.

Rather than redeveloping the entire property and removing the existing industrial use, the agreement enables Kruger Products to maintain operations at the Laurier tissue plant while opening part of its land to the community.

Gatineau MP Steven MacKinnon described the arrangement as an innovative agreement that allows Kruger Products to continue operating at its historic location while creating a new public amenity.

The approach illustrates one possible route for established industrial sites located within increasingly urbanized areas.

Manufacturing facilities can occupy valuable waterfront or centrally located land because many were established when waterways and transportation access were essential to industrial development.

As cities grow around these facilities, companies and local authorities can face the challenge of maintaining productive industrial operations while responding to demand for public access and improved urban environments.

Park Will Preserve Gatineau’s Industrial History

Confluence Park is also intended to recognize the industrial heritage of the area rather than erase it.

A permanent exhibition within the park will explain the site’s history and its connection with industrial development in Gatineau.

The park’s name refers to both the meeting of waterways around Chaudière Falls and the cooperation between the organizations involved in the redevelopment.

The surrounding Ottawa-Gatineau waterfront has longstanding connections with Canada’s forest-products sector, reflecting the historical importance of timber and paper manufacturing to the region.

Preserving that history alongside a working tissue facility gives the park an industrial context that distinguishes it from a conventional urban green-space development.

New Waterfront Access for Gatineau

The park’s location next to the Capital Pathway makes it accessible to pedestrians and cyclists and connects the development with the wider recreational network in Canada’s National Capital Region.

The project therefore combines several objectives: maintaining industrial activity, increasing waterfront access, adding vegetation and public space, and documenting the area’s manufacturing heritage.

For Kruger Products, the opening demonstrates how part of an established manufacturing property can take on a new public function without requiring the industrial site itself to disappear.

Confluence Park now provides 10,000 square metres of green space beside an operating tissue plant, creating an unusual intersection between manufacturing, industrial heritage and public waterfront access in central Gatineau.

Last Updated on 21/08/2026 by Jota Machinery