The Government of Canada is investing close to $1 million to support watershed restoration, as well as exploring adding 119 hectares to the Park.
Parks Canada and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority are working together to grow, restore, and protect Rouge National Urban Park.
Today, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge Park, announced a funding contribution of $949,940 for Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to collaborate with Parks Canada and Indigenous partners to undertake restoration work in Rouge National Urban Park. Minister Anandasangaree also announced that Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has approved a motion to transfer 119 hectares of their land to Parks Canada for inclusion in the park. As part of Parks Canada's commitment to respectful and inclusive decision-making, consultations with Indigenous partners is an essential component of any potential land transfer. The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives and Parks Canada is working collaboratively with partners to ensure these consultations are conducted thoroughly and meaningfully.
Through the funding contribution, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Parks Canada will undertake habitat restoration along two major watershed ecosystems to improve landscape connectivity, essential ecosystem functions and overall watershed health in the country's largest urban area. This work will aim to improve the ecological integrity of approximately 25 hectares of aquatic, riparian and terrestrial habitat throughout Rouge National Urban Park in the Rouge River and West Duffins Creek Watersheds. This contribution agreement will also help to achieve the Federal Government's commitment to planting two billion trees over the next 10 years as part of a nature-based solution to reduce carbon emissions, mitigate flooding and counteract climate change.
Additionally, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has recently approved the disposition of approximately 119 hectares of TRCA lands to Parks Canada for the potential expansion of Rouge National Urban Park in the City of Pickering and the Regional Municipality of Durham. Parks Canada will work with TRCA and continue to consult with First Nations partners on any potential effects that adding these lands to the park may have on First Nations' current and traditional activities.
Since 2015, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has transferred over 2,200 hectares of land to Parks Canada for inclusion in Rouge National Urban Park. In that time, Parks Canada, working in collaboration with the TRCA, Indigenous partners, farmers, municipalities, schools and volunteers, has initiated and completed 137 ecological restoration and farmland enhancement projects that have restored 92 hectares of wetland habitat, 142 hectares of forest habitat and five hectares of meadow habitat, including the planting of over 300,000 native trees and shrubs. These efforts, including the initiatives announced today, represent important and significant work that was undertaken by Parks Canada and the TRCA to protect and conserve the nationally significant natural heritage of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Rouge National Urban Park.
