Building a sustainable future through a responsible approach
At Alto, sustainability is embedded in every stage of the project and informs our environmental approach.
We aim to deliver a modern transportation system that provides an efficient and environmentally responsible alternative to travel by car or air connecting people, communities and businesses while contributing to a more sustainable future for Canada.
Alto is committed to integrating environmental considerations into decision‑making from the earliest planning stages through construction and operations. As the project advances, we will continue to follow industry best practices in our mission to ensure that sustainability is not merely an outcome, but a guiding principle throughout the project’s entire lifecycle.
Field studies
Field studies are a key part of Alto’s environmental approach and are of central importance to the federal impact assessment process. Data gathered during these studies allows us to better understand the baseline environmental, economic, and social conditions within the corridor under study between Toronto and Québec City.
This information is essential to assessing the project’s potential effects and informing decisions about project development. Field studies support a rigorous approach that meets regulatory requirements and provide valuable data that will help identify measures to avoid, mitigate, or compensate impacts—while maximizing benefits for communities.
Avoid, mitigate, compensate: our approach in practice
Any large-scale infrastructure project has impacts on the environment. Alto applies a structured and widely recognized approach to manage these effects: avoid, mitigate, and compensate. To limit impacts, Alto’s priority is to avoid them wherever possible, then mitigate those which cannot be avoided, and implement compensation measures where required in accordance with applicable environmental legislation.
Environmental considerations are assessed as part of a broader multi‑criteria approach, alongside technical, social, and economic factors, to support informed and balanced decision‑making.
Avoid
Avoiding impacts is our primary objective. From the earliest planning stages, decisions are made to prevent environmental disturbances before they occur wherever possible.
This may include carefully selecting routes to avoid sensitive areas such as wetlands and critical habitats and favouring existing or already disturbed corridors. It may also involve adapting specific or innovative construction methods—for example, using trenchless techniques to cross waterways so as not to disturb riverbeds, or planning work outside of sensitive periods such as migration or spawning seasons.
Mitigate
When impacts cannot be fully avoided, a range of measures can be implemented to reduce their intensity, extent, and duration.
Such measures could include controlling erosion and sedimentation during construction to protect habitats, or limiting the footprint of worksites by reducing clearing and using existing access routes where possible.
Additional measures may be put into place to preserve ecological functions—for example, ensuring fish passage at water crossings and restoring disturbed areas as work progresses. Environmental monitoring also enables teams to assess conditions in real time and adjust mitigation measures as needed.
Compensate
After avoidance and mitigation, some impacts may remain. In these cases, compensation measures, where required by applicable environmental legislation, will be implemented to offset residual environmental effects.
These may include restoring degraded environments or creating or enhancing habitats such as spawning areas. Compensation may also take place in areas beyond the project footprint, with long-term monitoring to ensure the measures achieve their intended outcomes.
Impact Assessment
The impact assessment process is a regulated framework led by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, an independent federal body responsible for overseeing assessments of major projects. It brings together environmental, social, health, and economic considerations to identify potential effects, engage with communities and Indigenous Peoples, and inform decision‑making before projects are approved and developed.
This process integrates field studies, technical analyses, and insights from public and Indigenous engagement to assess potential impacts and define appropriate measures to avoid, mitigate, or compensate for them. It ensures that project decisions are based on evidence, transparency, and a comprehensive understanding of the project’s effects.
Our Dedicated Approach to Agricultural Land
Alto recognizes the importance of agricultural land to Canada’s economy and food security, and the need to preserve it for future generations. We are committed to working collaboratively with property owners to responsibly address project impacts through an approach that goes beyond acquisition and compensation.
Collaboration with Indigenous communities
Indigenous communities are meaningfully engaged and consulted throughout all stages of the project, including in the design and implementation of environmental studies.
Alto works with communities to share information, identify priorities, and explore opportunities for participation in field studies and other project activities. This may include community-led studies, Indigenous knowledge initiatives, monitoring programs, and other areas of interest identified by communities.
Alto seeks to incorporate Indigenous input and perspectives into project development and design work, and to support Indigenous participation throughout the regulatory process.
Where we are now
Desktop and field studies are underway within the study corridor. Alto is working to refine the corridor for the central segment between Ottawa and Montréal based on ongoing technical, environmental, social, and financial analyses, as well as feedback gathered through public consultation. The corridor currently being studied is approximately 10 km wide, however the results of the studies will allow Alto to refine the corridor down before a final rail alignment is decided.
The refined central segment corridor will be presented to the public in fall 2026, after which a Project Description for this segment will be submitted as part of the impact assessment process. Refined corridors for the western (Toronto–Ottawa) and the eastern (Montréal–Québec City) segments are expected to be presented in early 2027.
