Strengthening Governance of the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail
Background
Lying in the heart of the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt was established by provincial legislation with supporting policies that protect and maintain an agricultural, natural heritage and water resource systems across three provincial land use plans – the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and Greenbelt Plan. The Greenbelt contains many of Canada’s most ecologically and hydrologically significant natural and scenic landscapes and provides for a diverse range of opportunities including recreational activities that benefit the overall health and quality of life for residents in and around the region.
The Oak Ridges Moraine Trail is an existing and significant recreation asset in the Greenbelt spanning 268 km across an iconic landscape of rolling hills and unique ecosystems. The Moraine protects critical headwaters and groundwater recharge areas that provide a source of clean drinking water for millions of Ontarians. A new Oak Ridges Moraine Trail Strategy, 2024, identifies priority actions to revitalize and enhance the Trail, with an initial focus on strengthening governance to support effective implementation and Indigenous partnerships and leadership in collaboration with local First Nations.
Project Objective
The objective of this project is to prepare a proposal to strengthen governance of the Trail and enable implementation of the Trail Strategy. The Final Governance Proposal will outline a recommended governance model and structures, along with a transition plan.
The vision for the ORMT was launched more than 25 years ago. The Oak Ridges Trail Association (ORTA), Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust (ORMLT) and Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation have largely maintained and stewarded the Trail through a community of volunteers and partnerships with public and private landowners. A number of current pressures exist that are challenging the ability of current partners to support the Trail and implement the Trail Strategy.
Scope of Work
The Governance Proposal will build on the principles and objectives articulated in the Trail Strategy, including Indigenous leadership; and roles and responsibilities for governance administration outlined in Strategic Objective #1 and related appendices that outline the current state of governance (Appendix A) and precedent models (Appendix C), available upon request.
The governance proposal is expected to:
- Assess the current governance model for the Trail, identifying key strengths, limitations and gaps and evaluate 2-3 options for strengthening governance of the Trail.
- Define and recommend a preferred governance model, and decision-making authority, supported by a strong and transparent rationale.
- Describe potential governance structures that support the preferred model, including potential partners, committees, and authority and accountability such as decision-making and reporting lines (legal and policy mandates are beyond the scope of this project).
- Outline an implementation plan and timelines to transition to the preferred governance model (Transition Plan).
- Identify immediate resources, including staffing and funding implications, for strengthening governance of the Trail (long-term funding strategies to implement priority actions listed the Trail Strategy are beyond the scope of this project).
- Consider risks and mitigation actions to address within the preferred model and structure.
The Governance Proposal will be developed and finalized through a series of 4 engagement sessions with two existing Trail stakeholder and Indigenous-led working groups established to consider long-term governance of the Trail and implementation of the Trail Strategy. These working groups will advise on all aspects of the Proposal, and Greenbelt Foundation staff will closely guide the development of the Transition Plan with the successful proponent. We expect that the Proposal will progress from one meeting to the next.
Deliverables
The successful proponent will provide:
- Final Workplan
- Report Outline
- Agendas and Evolving Governance Proposal for 4 Engagement Sessions
- Draft and Final Governance Proposal
- Presentation
Timeline
The project is expected to commence in late March 2026 and should be completed by early December 2026. The 4 Engagement Sessions will be held in May, July, September, November.
Proposal Requirements
Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals to Megan Sipos at msipos@greenbelt.ca by Monday March 9, 2026, at 5pm. The proposal must include the following:
- Your understanding of the assignment and your proposed approach and methodology including an outline of key sections of the Governance Proposal, and any expected challenges and ways to mitigate.
- Summary of work or projects completed within the past 3-5 years that are of a similar nature and scope to this project.
- Information related to the qualifications and experience of personnel who will be assigned to perform activities, a CV for each project team member that clearly outlines their qualifications and experience relevant to their role.
- A work plan for performing the assignment, including tasks and milestones with the names of the individuals performing each task and associated hours to be worked.
- A proposed budget scoped to no more than $30,000. If additional aspects of work are recommended, we invite applicants to outline those with their associated costs for consideration.
- Names and contact information of 3 client references with brief descriptions of the work performed.
- Overview of the company including: years in operation, full legal name (if incorporated or a partnership) or individual’s name (if a sole proprietor), name and title of the primary contact person, mailing address, telephone number and email address.
The Greenbelt Foundation reserves the right to choose any or none of the vendors responding to this request for proposals. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Inquiries
For any inquiries or clarifications regarding this request for proposal, please contact Megan Sipos at msipos@greenbelt.ca.