The City of Laval is saddling up for more legal action after a failed attempt to secure a court injunction against the company behind a popular light attraction for occupying land slated for a housing development.

The land, located along Highway 15, was home to Illumi, a light display that attracted millions of visitors been 2019 and January 2024. The installation featured 25 million lights, illuminated dinosaurs and even a giant Christmas tree.

Though the show closed a year ago, large structures remain on the property. This leftover equipment has sparked a legal battle between the City of Laval and the show’s owner Cavalia, a company known for its equestrian and theatrical shows.

Laval, hoping to take the reins on the situation, sought a court injunction to get Cavalia to clear the land and restore it to its original condition. The city also demanded damages for what it describes as the “illegal occupation” of the property after Sept. 1, 2024.

Laval had requested the provisional injunction to also compel Cavalia to pay $701,370 in occupancy rent, starting Sept. 1, court documents show.

Cavalia contested the request, arguing that the city had not demonstrated the urgency of the situation, failed to provide proof of serious or irreparable harm and that the balance of inconveniences did not favour the injunction.

Court rejects city’s request

A Superior Court judge ultimately sided with Cavalia, rejecting the city’s request.

The city cannot use this procedural tool to force the payment of the claim it asserts against Cavalia, the court ruled.

The ruling states that the city had not shown that the situation was urgent and that forcing Cavalia to pay the amount demanded could jeopardize the company’s operations.

The holiday light show and Christmas village was made up of millions of lights. It stopped lighting up the night in January 2024. (Cavalia)

Despite this setback, Laval remains committed to evicting Cavalia from the site and having the land restored to its original condition, said Laval spokesperson Jonathan Lévesque in an email.

There have been discussions between Cavalia and the city to explore ways the show can be carried on, but outside of the area, Lévesque said.

These discussions were focused on finding other potential sites and not on an extension of the agreement, but no solution was found that satisfied both parties, he said.

Due to the lack of a satisfactory solution, the city confirmed to Cavalia in July 2023 that it would not be possible to hold activities on an alternative site.

WATCH | See the leftover equipment: 

Nearly a year after the show ended, the equipment was still on the land even though Laval gave Cavalia until September to clear out. So “it became necessary to act in order to recover access to the municipal land to enforce our rights, as we launched Phase 1 of the development of a new neighbourhood,” Lévesque said.

Land preparation work for this phase is underway, as are preliminary environmental and soil studies, for which the Quebec government has provided funding, he said.

Opposition challenges mayor’s rush

The project, dubbed “Carré Laval,” is planned as a carbon-neutral development that is to include living spaces and schools, creating a downtown centre for Quebec’s third-largest city, the municipality said.

Laval announced the project in 2020, citing financial support of the provincial government.

Cavalia senior vice-president Dimitri Soudas said in a message to CBC that the City of Laval’s court case “remains incomprehensible.”

“We don’t understand why the city is relentlessly pursuing legal action against us, while all we are asking for is to reach an agreement with the city to complete the dismantling,” he said.

“It is hard to justify wasting taxpayers’ dollars against us while we […] have committed to complete the dismantling.”

Frédéric Mayer, spokesperson for opposition party Action Laval, said Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer was spurring Cavalia to action too quickly, given that nothing had been done on the site for nearly five years.

“They decided in September they will do something and since that moment, everything is an emergency,” said Mayer. “They rush everything, but they don’t have a plan. They don’t have a budget.”