Canada Announces Funding for Reforestation Project in the Ogoki Forest in Ontario

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson recently announced that the Canadian government is investing almost $900,000 (CAD) in a reforestation project in the Ogoki Forest, Northern Ontario Business reported (1-16-25). The site is located 400 kilometers (249 miles) northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The investment will support the planting of 800,000 trees over 450 hectares (1,100 acres), rehabilitate ecosystems destroyed by wildfires, and restore the habitat of woodland caribou, moose, and black bears. Wilkinson also noted that the investment will also help achieve the federal government’s goal of planting two billion trees over the next decade.

The project will be led by Integrity Reforestation, a company based near Mattawa, Ontario, and will create about 40 tree-planting jobs. According to the company, it’s collaborating with the First Nations-led Agoke Development Corporation and non-profits. Matt McKernan, CEO of Integrity, said the reforestation project underscores the critical role of large-scale reforestation in restoring an area devastated by wildfire in 2023.

In 2018, Agoke signed a groundbreaking forestry agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources to take on the management of the Ogoki Forest.

Richard Shwedack, general manager of the Agoke Development Corporation, told the local media that the corporation has been working hand in hand with Integrity to get the project going. “We’re quite happy and relieved about the success we’ve had getting funding to pay for the regeneration of these burnt areas,” he said.

Shwedack added that Integrity is collaborating with the corporation’s member communities to ensure there are job opportunities for people interested in planting trees. He said a total of three million trees will be planted in the Ogoki Forest over the next year or two.