Oshawa residents can expect continued improvements to the Second Marsh after the city and the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority secured $1,008,460 in provincial funding. The money, announced August 11, 2026, supports the ongoing restoration of the 137-hectare coastal wetland in southern Oshawa, where Harmony Creek and Farewell Creek meet Lake Ontario.
The funding comes through the province’s Species Conservation Program, administered by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. It adds to a previously announced $1,614,500 federal investment from the Canada Water Agency, bringing total recent restoration funding to about $2.6 million.
The work targets species at risk including the threatened Least Bittern, the threatened Blanding’s Turtle, and the endangered American Eel, while improving the marsh’s long-term climate resilience and ecological health. Over the next four years, CLOCA will work with Ducks Unlimited Canada, Friends of Second Marsh, and the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority to restore and enhance vital wetland and coastal habitats.
Restoration work began in spring 2026, and partners are now advancing detailed design, permitting, and phased implementation. The Second Marsh is a provincially significant wetland and one of the largest coastal marshes on the north shore of Lake Ontario. It was saved from a proposed harbour expansion in the 1970s and 1980s by community advocates, with ownership transferred to the City of Oshawa in 1993.
“We are grateful for the Ontario Government’s significant investment in the Oshawa Second Marsh, one of our community’s most valuable natural assets,” said Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter. “This funding will help advance restoration work to support local species at risk and strengthen the marsh’s ecosystem. We thank CLOCA and its partners for this important work over the next four years.”
