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

Through these projects, students and residents in the Lake Simcoe watershed 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, 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.

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.

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 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 from the Holland River into Lake Simcoe.