Quebec police call armed forces after suspected grenade found at campground

MONTREAL – Quebec provincial police have called the Canadian Armed Forces to dispose of a suspected grenade that was discovered at a campground south of Montreal today.

Police spokesperson Louis-Philippe Ruel says a person found the object at around 10:30 a.m. and brought it to a building at the Lac Cristal campground in St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que.

He says the discovery was made by accident and the person did not threaten anyone.

Ruel says the item appeared to be a grenade and looked old, but that police officers weren’t able to confirm it was authentic.

He says a security perimeter was put in place and that campers were temporarily prevented from entering or exiting. 

A Canadian Armed Forces spokesperson confirmed that a specialized explosives disposal team was en route to the site to take charge of the object.

Abygail Bourgault-Lévesque said the team would first identify the suspected munition and decide whether it can be safely transported to a military base for disposal.

“However, if the object is deemed dangerous or unstable, specialists immediately take the necessary neutralization measures, which may include controlled destruction on-site or at a nearby secure location using military explosives,” she wrote in an email.

While the email did not identify the object found at the Quebec campground, Bourgault-Lévesque noted that No. 36 grenades, which are also known as Mills Bombs, were produced in large numbers over the last century for operations and training purposes.

“We remind the public of the importance of reporting any potentially dangerous military object — such as grenades, shells, ammunition, or explosives — to the authorities and avoiding any handling of the item until it has been assessed by (explosives) specialists,” she wrote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2026.