Ontario Water Centre

OWC connects young people with nature/water through programs/experiences delivered at a 180-year old lakeside farmstead that educate young people and their families while benefiting local economies and communities. We also grow/distribute sustainably-grown vegetables using young farmers through a multi-year apprenticeship. In 2020, in response to unusual circumstances, we are innovating to create “safe” outdoor experiences for families.

LOCATIONS

Canada

Company History

OWC is an educational charity founded in 2011 as a successor to Ladies of the Lake Conservation Association, which engaged hundreds of residents of the Lake Simcoe basin in a campaign that gave rise to the Lake Simcoe Protection Act. Our Chair and Founder, who originally founded OWL Magazine, served on the Lake Simcoe Coordinating Committee. In 2015, OWC entered into a 30 year lease for what has become our flagship project, Clearwater Farm. Since that time, we have raised over $8 million to revitalize and reimagine a 24-acre property that encompasses woodlots, fields and naturalized shoreline. In 2019, our outdoor programs targeting youth worked with over 600 kids through school programs, camps, etc. We have also launched a multi-year apprenticeship for sustainable farmers, partially funded by the sale of food grown on the farm. In 2020, we have launched a new gamified website www.clearwaterkids.org designed to engage 6-10 year olds with videos, facts, quizzes, games, sounds associated with various locations around the ClearWater Farm.

Company Facts

10-12 full time employees, which surge to 30 during summers.
4 full-time outdoor educators
3-4 full-time farming leads, 5 sustainable farming apprentices each farm season, working in 13,000 square feet of greenhouse, 4 acres of market garden
Raised a 4 season timberframe barn as an education centre