A plan to deal with the Canada Goose population in Windsor will be brought to city council for consideration during 2025 budget deliberations.
The Community Services Standing Committee voted Wednesday to direct administration to select one option laid out in a report to the committee outside of a cull to address the growing goose population.
Commissioner of Community and Corporate Services Ray Mensour says he's not sure if a permit has ever been issued by the federal government for a goose cull.
"In a quick search, it doesn't appear that a permit for a cull has been issued to my recollection in recent history," he says. "However, prior to even entertaining that, we have to go through the steps of a management plan showing that we tried to reduce the population of the geese prior to applying for any type of permit."
The goal is to allow council to consider one of the options during budget deliberations, and if approved, the measure could be put into action during the spring of 2025.
One of four options could be selected, and they include:
- habitat management that would see the grass and pollinator plants allowed to grow longer in certain areas to deter geese from gathering,
- hazing techniques through the use of trained dogs, lights, lasers, or pyrotechnics to make geese uncomfortable in their habitats,
- the relocation of geese,
- and egg removal efforts to discourage the geese from returning to nesting habitats in certain areas of the city.
Ward 6 councillor Jo-Anne Gignac has been pushing for a plan to deal with geese in the city, pointing to a number of issues being caused by the birds, including droppings across parks, along with safety hazards caused on trails and on city streets, specifically along Riverside Drive and along Windsor's riverfront.
Gignac says we like our Canada geese, but there is a tipping point.
"Since there are no real natural predators within this municipality, which is built up and very busy all the time, we don't see a lot of coyotes running along the riverfront and in other areas; it's time to take some serious measures in terms of controlling the population," she says.
Gignac says every spring we're seeing waves of new geese and wants "something" done.
"That we move forward with initiating something, something, this year coming up to next spring so we can prove to the upper levels of government that we've been trying," she says.
Canada Geese are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, which provides for the protection and conservation of migratory birds and prohibits people from harming birds, except under specified conditions.