After nearly a decade of work, the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed (FOTMW) is officially a registered charity.
Officials say they earned the status in Sept. 2022. The organization was established in 2013.
“This is an important change for our organization,” says Doug Clark, a volunteer director on the FOTMW board. “It was a long and complex process and many months of communication with the Canada Revenue Agency. More work will be required in the future as we take on this new role as a charity.”
As a registered charity, officials say they can issue tax receipts, which they believe will allow them to continue to support the community with the organization’s various projects, notably its citizen scientist initiative.
Officials say the now registered charitable organization’s priorities include strategic research and actions to solve known problems that they say “are not yet managed well” like calcium decline in Muskoka’s forests, harmful winter road salt, climate change, and increasing algal blooms.