Ontario Investing $289,000 in Youth Stewardship of Lake Simcoe

Friday April 19, 2024

BRADFORD – The Ontario government is investing over $289,000 in three projects that are engaging local youth and community members in the Lake Simcoe area. These environmental stewardship activities like workshops, field trips and other educational opportunities are focused on restoring the Lake Simcoe watershed.

1. Aquatic Vegetation Management Holland Marsh Drains – Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury – Develop and implement an innovative program to reduce the amount of phosphorus that is in the water entering Lake Simcoe from the Holland Marsh by removing aquatic vegetation in the Main Drain within the Holland Marsh.
2. River Buffer Holland Marsh Drains – Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury – Stabilize the banks of the Main Drain in Holland Marsh, including by planting vegetation, to reduce bank failures and soil erosion, which will reduce the amount of phosphorus that is in the water entering Lake Simcoe from the Holland Marsh.
3. Orillia Museum of Art and History – Provide knowledge to support youth actions to improve the health of Lake Simcoe by protecting and rehabilitating shorelines and natural heritage, and to implement a youth stewardship program that shares knowledge about native plants and the benefits of their use in gardens, rain gardens and along shorelines. Youth will design an urban park along the shoreline of Lake Simcoe, including creating art and environmental educational displays about protecting Lake Simcoe.

“Our government is continuing to invest in the long-term health of Lake Simcoe”, said Caroline Mulroney, MPP for York-Simcoe. “These projects will benefit both the Holland Marsh and the south shores of Lake Simcoe as we continue to keep the water clean and reduce phosphorus from entering our watershed.”

“As a mother and someone who has lived in the Barrie area for many years, I am grateful to have a partner like the Orillia Museum of Art and History to help inspire the next generation and encourage them to take a more active role in the health of Lake Simcoe,” said Andrea Khanjin, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. “Together with our community partners, we are making important progress on actions to keep the lake and its watershed clean and healthy not only for residents today, but for future generations.”

Over the past year and a half, the museum has hosted 10 workshops at Regent Park Public School in Orillia and two field trips to local gardens and parks to educate students and community members about how they can protect and restore shorelines around Lake Simcoe.

Through these projects, students and residents are learning how to design rain gardens, pollinator gardens and use native plants to reduce erosion and restore shorelines. Following the success of its first plant giveaway, beginning this spring, the museum will provide participants with native species of trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses to grow at school, home and in community gardens.

Funding for these projects is part of the over $37 million the government – including the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs – has invested since 2018 as it works to improve the health of Lake Simcoe and its watershed under the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. This investment includes the $24 million announced in the 2024 Ontario Budget for the innovative phosphorus reduction project to help reduce phosphorus discharges into Lake Simcoe.

QUOTES

“These investments to protect the Holland River and Lake Simcoe are nature-based solutions. We’re using the power of plants to organically filter our water. It’s such a simple concept but an important contribution to a clean environment. I’d like to thank Minister Khanjin and Minister Mulroney for their support, and Frank Jonkman, our drainage superintendent, for spearheading the project, alongside the Holland Marsh Growers Association and our Green Initiatives Advisory Committee.”
Jonathan Scott, Councillor – Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury

QUICK FACTS

• 19 multi-year projects that support the implementation of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, helping to build healthier and stronger communities across the region.
• recent instances of successful natural reproduction of cold-water fish species like Lake Whitefish, Burbot and Cisco.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn how Ontario is protecting Lake Simcoe

Read the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan

Read the 2021-2022 Lake Simcoe Annual Report

Read the Minister’s 10-Year Report on Lake Simcoe

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MEDIA CONTACT

Marisa Patricelli

marisa.patricelli@pc.ola.org

905-895-1555

PHOTO ATTRIBUTION

Photo by Giorgio Galeotti. Public Use CC BY-SA 4.0