It's time to register! Join us for FOCA's 60th anniversary Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Spring Seminar for Member Associations, as we "come out of our shells" this year and return to more in-person events.

And we will present a member Association with the 2022 FOCA Achievement Award.

About the AGM: The AGM will be held at 10:00am. Each current Member Association is encouraged to send a representative to vote in the AGM, either in-person or by webinar participation. Official Annual General Meeting notice will be sent by email to all Member Associations by February 2nd, 2023.

On January 7th, 1963, 125 people representing 40 cottage associations met and decided the time was right to form a provincial association. By the spring of 1963, the organization was called "The Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Associations"! Among the earliest issues discussed were: water quality and water safety, taxation, municipal election voter rights, land use planning and (the lack of) by-law enforcement.

There are many ways you can help FOCA celebrate our 60th anniversary:

The Underused Housing Tax was implemented by the federal Finance Department effective January 1st, 2022, and is payable at tax time in 2023. FOCA asked that seasonal owners be excluded from this tax, and the government did bring forward an exemption for Canadian owners of vacation or recreational properties, with certain conditions. Nevertheless, cottage owners who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents may still be affected. Get information on our webpage.

FOCA joined 1600 delegates at the annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference. This year's theme was Breaking New Ground, and included the opportunity to meet and hear from Ontario’s Cabinet, along with elected municipal officials and senior staffers.

Important issues discussed at ROMA 2023 included land use planning, rural health care, electricity planning, affordable housing and more. FOCA met with our colleagues at Conservation Ontario, Hydro One, MPAC, Good Roads, Emergency Management Ontario and others, and we presented to a full room on the topic of short term rentals (STR) in rural Ontario. Learn more in FOCA's recent STR report, posted to our webpage:  https://foca.on.ca/rental/. (image below: the crowd at the STR session at ROMA 2023)

Ice cover on Lake Superior was less than 5% in mid-January, and researchers say that's the new normal. The long-term trend suggests a decline in ice cover of nearly 3% per decade. Read the CBC News story.

In related news, see daily ice cover status for each of the Great Lakes, on the Great lakes Ice Tracker (image at the side).

Snowmobile Safety Week (January 14-22, 2023) has just ended, but tragically another death was reported on Six Mile Lake earlier this week. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Underwater Search and Recovery Unit and the Georgian Bay Township Fire Service were on-scene on Sunday, searching for a missing snowmobiler who had fallen through the ice. One person was rescued from the lake, but unfortunately the body of another man was recovered the following day. (image: @OPP_CR tweet)

It's cold outside, and that fire sounds delightful! However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reminds all Canadians who might be stocking their woodshed at home or at the cottage: Buy local, burn local: Don't move firewood. You could inadvertently carry invasive species like the emerald ash borer, brown spruce longhorn beetle, and the LDD moth in wood that you might transport hundreds of kilometres away. Get important woodpile tips, and more information from CFIA here (source of the image used).

Your association can apply for a $500 award to help pay for tools, brush disposal, print materials, or even a BBQ related to holding a Wildfire Community Preparedness Day any time between May and October 2023. Get details from FireSmart Canada (source of the image used) and apply by January 31st!

FOCA participated earlier this week in meetings of the Ontario Recreational Boating Advisory Council, held at the ongoing Toronto International Boat Show.

At these meetings, Transport Canada (TC) discussed draft regulations pertaining to wake surfing, and the proposal to make the wearing of personal floatation devices (PFDs) mandatory which is due to come up for public consultation this Spring. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shared statistics: of the 289 deaths on Ontario's waterways in the last 12 years, 87.6% were NOT wearing a PFD. We also discussed the ongoing concerns around floating accommodations on Ontario waters. 

FOCA will continue to post updates on these issues as they become available, on our website. For an overview from TC, and related information, visit: https://foca.on.ca/boating-overview/

There are many impacts from the use of road salt and other winter maintenance chemicals. Conservation Ontario (CO) has a Drinking Water Source Protection - Salt Responsibly story map webpage that provides information, science and actions the public can take to improve our current salty situation. By salting responsibly we can balance human safety on our roads, walkways and parking lots with keeping our environment and drinking water sources healthy.

In related news, a recent article on salt in freshwater lakes has been published by our colleague Dr. Stephanie Melles and others. They found increasing salinity (saltiness) to be linked with reductions in species and lower zooplankton abundance, and conclude that impacts will be compounded by changes in climate. Get a link to this article, CO's Salt Responsibly webpage and related resources, here: https://foca.on.ca/salt-in-our-freshwater-systems/

Property owners, non-profit organizations and community groups in the Kawartha Conservation watershed can apply for funding and technical assistance in support of a future environmental project that has the potential to positively impact water quality or ecosystem health.

Learn more about the 2023 Water Fund and apply by April 30, 2023.

February 4-5, 2023 - Experience natural beauty during the Hike Haliburton winter festival in the Haliburton Highlands. This outdoor enthusiast festival offers free guided hikes, paid adventure experiences, and more. In the words of an organizer, “It’s local residents and others — cottagers or people who spend a lot of time here — taking a group of folks out and telling them the story of one of their favourite places.” Read more and get a link to register, from the story posted by KawarthaNOW.com

As of January 1, 2023 the Town of Gravenhurst's short-term rental (STR) accommodation program by-laws are in effect; all STRs require a license from the town to legally operate. There are related rules outlined for parking, posting a renter's Code of Conduct document, noise, garbage, and more. The annual license fee is $750, and penalties for not following the rules start at $1,000 and up. Get a link to this, and other municipal STR news from FOCA's webpage: https://foca.on.ca/rental/

If you boat through the locks of the Trent Severn Waterways, you'll want to access reduced pricing on your 2023 seasonal lockage permit - purchase by March 31st!