The Ontario Community Environment Fund is now accepting online applications for environmental project funding, with a submission deadline of 5 p.m. (EDT) on September 24, 2025. Since its launch in 2010, the fund has directed more than $3.8 million from environmental penalties into 108 projects across the province. These initiatives have contributed significantly to ecological restoration, including planting over 450,000 trees, shrubs, and plants, restoring 52 kilometers of shoreline, and collecting 1,350 bags of litter.
Recent funded projects include Brant County’s Parks Enhancement near Paris, which involved planting 5,000 native trees and shrubs, removing invasive species, and enhancing eight kilometers of trails in Carolinian forest areas. On Manitoulin Island, the Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association led a large-scale garbage cleanup, restored riparian zones with 700 native plantings, improved cold-water stream habitats, and fenced off livestock from Grimesthorpe Creek. Scouts Canada contributed by restoring a rare Oak Savanna ecosystem in Lambton Shores through invasive species removal and native tree planting.
Eligible projects must offer direct environmental benefits and be located in regions with available funding. Indigenous communities, not-for-profits, academic institutions, and municipalities are encouraged to apply. The competitive evaluation process will conclude with successful applicants being notified in early 2026. In 2025, available funding includes more than $1.6 million for Southwestern Ontario, $721,000 for West Central Ontario, and $585,000 for Northern Ontario.
Under Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act, individuals or companies responsible for pollutant spills are legally obligated to clean up the environmental damage, reinforcing the fund’s purpose of environmental accountability and restoration.
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