In the 1960s, Swedish immigrant Thor Vikström arrived in Quebec and built a family home in Laval overlooking Île Ronde, a small, undeveloped island nestled in the Rivière des Prairies between Montreal and Laval.Eventually, Vikström persuaded its owner to sell him the roughly three-hectare (7.4 acres) Île Ronde, which he envisioned not as a development opportunity but as a place worth preserving. For more than five decades, Vikström and his family maintained the island while Montreal and Laval developed and expanded around it. In December 2021, the 93-year-old donated his private property to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), thus ensuring that the island would remain protected for the foreseeable future.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
