Part of the Stories from the Greenbelt series
Celebrating the Greenbelt’s 20th Anniversary With a Year of Community, Connection and Action.
The Greenbelt celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025 — a milestone event that marked two decades of protecting the greenspaces, farms, forests and waters that make Ontario unique. In honour of this, the Foundation worked with 18 partners, grantee organizations, and municipalities to host a variety of exciting and meaningful events across the Greenbelt. Together, these events helped shape the 20th year, creating fun opportunities for the Foundation and people all across Ontario to connect with the people and places they love while learning more about what the Greenbelt provides and how they can support it now, and for the next 20 years.
In 2025, a range of Foundation supported initiatives opened the door for people to get outside and explore, many for the first time. The Foundation celebrated Bruce Trail Day by supporting the Bruce Trail Conservancy’s nine family-friendly hikes hosted along the Niagara Escarpment with complimentary bussing, making it all the more accessible. In the Oak Ridges Moraine and Durham East Cross Forest, Kawartha Region Conservation Authority helped celebrate with a five-part hike series and community tree planting event helping participants deepen their local knowledge and build understanding of the Moraine’s role as a vital water source. Throughout the year, Scadding Court Community Centre brought Toronto youth on five Greenbelt trips, pairing hands-on workshops and with ongoing opportunities to stay involved, and the Transportation Options Association of Ontario hosted four daytrips combining guided hikes with cultural and environmental learning.
Recreation was at the heart of the Greenbelt’s anniversary celebrations, with events inviting people of all ages and abilities to experience these landscapes firsthand, not just as a place on a map but somewhere to hike, ride, gather and explore. As part of the 2025 Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, with Foundation support, Waterfront Regeneration Trust integrated Greenbelt education and promotion into a multi-day cycling and community engagement event, connecting riders with the regions they were riding through. In June, the Oak Ridges Trail Association successfully relaunched the Oak Ridges Moraine Adventure Relay, marking the return of a flagship recreational event that drew important attention to the ecological and recreational significance of the Oak Ridges Moraine as a key part of Ontario’s Greenbelt.
Alongside the Foundation’s milestone, 2025 also marked the 100th anniversary of the Holland Marsh as a specialty crop region, reminding us that the Greenbelt is not just beautiful landscapes but working ones as well helping to provide much of our local food. To celebrate both milestones, the Foundation supported the Holland Marsh Growers Association in reaching newcomers, residents, and visitors in Bradford through a multimedia campaign showcasing the region’s rich agricultural heritage and continued importance to our food systems. The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury complemented these efforts with a series of events, workshops, and programs supported by the Foundation, giving participants hands-on opportunities to explore local farming, sustainable practices, and the unique landscapes that make the Greenbelt and Holland Marsh so vital to Ontario’s communities.
Conservation is always central to the Foundation’s work, but 2025 marked some incredible restoration efforts and partnerships that will shape the landscape for years to come. A Kawartha Land Trust tree planting funded by the Foundation successfully restored 85 acres of forest, savannah, and tallgrass ecosystems in the Oak Ridges Moraine!
Meanwhile, the Foundation partnered with EcoSchools Canada to plant native plants across school grounds, helping create greener, healthier space for students to learn and grow, fostering the next generation of environmental stewards. Through another partnership with Birds Canada, Bird Atlas 3 informed future conservation strategies by collecting data on breeding birds across the province. On World Migratory Bird Day, partners and volunteers gathered at NCC’s Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in Northumberland County to celebrate Hazel Bird’s lasting conservation legacy and the continued success of local bird habitat restoration.
With the Foundation’s support, various organizations and partners brought the Greenbelt’s story to life at community events across Ontario. The International Plowing Match & Rural Expo in Grassie highlighted Niagara’s specialty crops and local food systems to tens of thousands of visitors, while The Niagara Geopark expanded educational programs, digital tools, and partnerships to share the region’s uniqueness with young learners and tourists. In Hamilton, Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg engaged community groups at the McQuesten Urban Farm through workshops on food literacy, urban agriculture, and sustainable practices, linking local food security to the Greenbelt’s protections, both rurally and in cities.
Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto brought the Greenbelt into urban spaces through markets, camps, native plant installations, and online programming, helping urban residents see how river valleys and the Greenbelt’s natural systems connect directly to their well-being. Meanwhile, Farm and Food Care Ontario strengthened relationships in the agriculture sector through Farmtober Fest and membership events, creating a platform for collaboration and advocacy in agriculture. In Burlington’s Rural Ward 6, a community social event united farmers, small businesses, conservation staff, and local residents, reiterating that the Greenbelt’s natural, economic, and cultural value is rooted in local communities and ongoing collaboration.
Together, these events reflect how the Greenbelt Foundation’s support transformed a milestone anniversary into a province-wide celebration, that honoured the Greenbelt’s 20 years of impact, while engaging communities in meaningful, hands-on ways and strengthening support for its long-term protection.
Through partnerships with municipalities, community organizations, conservation groups, and educators, the Foundation sparked experiences that connected Ontarians to the forests, wetlands, trails, farms, and water systems the Greenbelt protects. Whether through recreation, restoration, education, or community gathering, each initiative reinforced our shared responsibility and shared pride of caring for the Greenbelt.
As we move beyond this anniversary year, these collaborations and moments of connection will continue to shape the Foundation’s work, strengthening relationships and building momentum to ensure the Greenbelt remains protected, celebrated, and supported for generations to come.
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