The Bruce Trail Conservancy is set to expand an important ecological corridor along the Niagara Escarpment, spanning across 23 municipalities, including Halton.
The federal government will be giving an additional $2.4 million to the conservancy through the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund. This initiative aligns with Canada’s conservation goals to reduce emissions and protect 30 per cent of the nation’s land and water by 2030.
“This funding is going to allow us to protect more land along the Niagara Escarpment, but also to continue the connectivity of the Bruce Trail,” said Michael McDonald, CEO of the Bruce Trail Conservancy.
Speaking at Kelso Conservation Area in Milton Wednesday (Nov. 13) with Milton MP Adam van Koeverden and Burlington MP Karina Gould, McDonald compared completing the Bruce Trail to “assembling a big puzzle piece.”
“There are missing gaps all the way here from Queenston to Tobermory. So we will be acquiring land all the way from Queenston up to Tobermory, everywhere in between,” he told MiltonToday.
The funding also supports the conservation of over 300 hectares of critical habitat, capturing and storing greenhouse gasses through the preservation of carbon-rich forests, wetlands and grasslands within the Niagara Escarpment.
“In addition to protecting the land, we also do lots of conservation restoration work to restore those lands back to their peak ecological health. And then the second part that's really important is that the connectivity of the Bruce Trail on this ecological quarter will be strengthened because of this funding, and that's going to allow us to boost the ecosystem values all along the Niagara Escarpment,” said McDonald.
Previously, the government provided $5 million to the conservancy as part of a broader $5 billion investment in the Natural Climate Solutions Fund over 10 years (2021–2031).
The historic funding, according to van Koeverden — who's also parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment and climate change — demonstrates a significant commitment to climate action.
“Our policies will not only help restore and protect our natural heritage, but they'll also create jobs and boost our economy. And we're also already seeing results. For the first time in our country's history, we've successfully decoupled economic growth from emissions. Our pollution is going down while our economy continues to grow,” van Koeverden said.
Gould, who also serves as leader of the government in the House of Commons, noted the importance of preserving natural spaces near urban areas — recognizing their value for mental health, community resilience and ecosystem health.