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FOCA Elert ~ October 2024

Make sure you see all the updates: you're at the end when you see this FOCA banner again.

FOCA Fall Seminar

Last Call to Register!

FOCA Fall Seminar on Healthy Shorelines

Saturday, November 9, 2024 - by Zoom webinar from 9:00am to 12:00pm


What makes a healthy shoreline, and what puts shoreline health at risk? Join FOCA for a digital seminar with expert speakers on water quality monitoring, septic system reinspection, source water protection, algae, and shoreline naturalization resources. Also, get an update from the Board Chair on FOCA’s new Strategic Planning process, and see FOCA's new Guide to Aquatic Plants in Ontario.


Click here for details and the link to register by November 8 at the latest.

Special thanks to our Session Sponsors!

Septic Reinspection Session:

Wild Waterfronts Session:

Cade's Corner

An update from our partners in risk management - administrators of

the FOCA Association Insurance Program and CottageFirst

Winter Cottage Preparations

With winter approaching, now is the time to prepare your property to withstand the season’s challenges. A few preventative steps can protect your beloved cottage or home, and prevent the need for costly winter repairs. Read our tips overview to help keep your property safe and sound through the colder months ahead!

FOCA Board & Staff

Welcome, Dana

Please join us in welcoming Dana Yonemitsu as FOCA's new Administrative Coordinator. Dana has a strong background in association management in the not-for-profit sector and is experienced in human resources, bookkeeping, and government relations advocacy. She has been both a seasonal cottage and permanent resident on Paudash Lake for many years. Learn more about Dana and all FOCA's staff on our webpage: https://foca.on.ca/about/team/#staff

Last Call for Nominations: FOCA Board

FOCA is seeking passionate and dedicated individuals for the 2025-2026 slate of directors to join our Board. We are looking for individuals with expertise in governance, non-profit leadership, environmental policy, law, finance, communications, or related fields.


Thank you to those who have applied already! We have extended the deadline to November 5, 2024. For the application form, how to apply, and to learn more about our current Board, visit: https://foca.on.ca/about/team/#board

Welcome our Newest Gold Level Sponsor

Imagine Owning a Caribbean Cottage!

Join us in welcoming Kokomo Botanical Resort in Turks and Caicos as FOCA's newest Gold Level Sponsor.


Kokomo Botanical Resort is a private, gated, full-service residential resort offering a turnkey, hassle-free ownership experience. With no property taxes, it's a great multi-generational investment for families, usable year-round without the upkeep. Owners enjoy resort amenities like spa services, pools, and personalized beach butler service.

SPECIAL TIME-LIMITED OFFER:

Kokomo Botanical Resort in Turks and Caicos is offering a special discount to FOCA members who use our exclusive access code when booking by December 31, 2024: receive a $100/day voucher for your first stay! Login on the FOCA benefits webpage for the access code, or contact FOCA by email for assistance during business hours.


Whether you’re planning a relaxing getaway or an adventure-filled vacation, this voucher gives you the perfect chance to experience the beauty of Turks and Caicos at a great value. Simply enter the FOCA code when booking your stay and start your island escape with savings. Don’t miss out on this special offer—your Caribbean cottage awaits!

FOCA's Other Gold Level Sponsors

sponsors support our work, please support them

FOCA Serves Lake & Road Associations

Last Call! Apply for the Achievement Award

Remember to apply on behalf of YOUR great association, for the 2024 Terry Rees Achievement Award.* This award celebrates successes of the FOCA community, and encourages sharing of best-practices. The deadline to apply has been extended this year to November 5, 2024.


Large or small associations can apply. Accomplishments should be current, but can include long-standing efforts that have recently reached a new milestone or highlight. To learn more, download the application form, or see details about past association recipients, visit our webpage: https://foca.on.ca/member-services/award/.


* In March 2024 the “FOCA Achievement Award” was renamed by the Board of Directors as the “Terry Rees Achievement Award” at the time of his retirement; the Award was originally named for FOCA’s first Executive Director, Jerry Strickland.

Partner Webinar: Incorporating a Nonprofit - Build your own Bylaws

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - 10am-4pm by webinar. The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) is holding a full-day paid webinar workshop for individuals who have decided incorporation is right for their nonprofit, are prepared to incorporate, and are looking at creating articles of incorporation and bylaws. Learn more and register for the ONN webinar online here.

Member Benefit: Park'N Fly

Travelling soon? Enjoy savings off the online rate with FOCA's new Member Discount Code when reserving your next stay on the Park’N Fly app or at parknfly.ca. You can even earn Aeroplan points. Plus, join Park’N Fly Rewards and earn points and perks on every eligible stay. Access our code under the Member login on the Benefits webpage: https://foca.on.ca/member-services/benefits/

Member Benefit: Cottage Life

Join us at the Fall Cottage Life Show, taking place from November 15 to 17, 2024 at the International Centre near the Toronto airport. Use FOCA's access code to get $3 off the General Admission ticket price when you purchase online. Find our code under the Member login on the Benefits webpage: https://foca.on.ca/member-services/benefits/. We look forward to your visit to FOCA's booth at the show!

Login for all your FOCA Member Benefits

Please note that all our Member Associations and our annual supporters - the "Friends of FOCA" - have been onboarded to FOCA's MemberPress system with individualized web logins. As a result, the old generic "focamember" login has been discontinued.

Association Member Families: Your association renewal contact has a link (specific to your association) that you can use to set up your own unique Username and Password as a Sub-Account of your association, in order to access all the member benefits and members-only materials on the FOCA website. Please ask your association representative to reach out to FOCA if they need assistance locating the association's link.


FOCA members are encouraged to login on the Benefits webpage to access the discount codes for all member benefits and offers from our sponsors and partners - like the new Park'N Fly offer, Rogers Preferred Pricing plan, AEDs from Action First Aid, Canadian Canoe Museum & Cottage Life Magazine subscription discounts, and the CottageFirst group insurance program for your cottage, boat, car, and more.

Not yet a member? Find out more about the many benefits of joining FOCA: https://foca.on.ca/member-services/

FOCA Advocates for Responsive Government

FOCA at Queen's Park

FOCA met last week with the Honorable Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources, to discuss priorities for invasive species funding and the economic, ecological, and social impacts of invasive species on waterfront communities across Ontario. It was an opportunity to share members' concerns with the Minister and stand strong with our invasive species partners at Queen's Park. See more images on our Instagram feed, and follow us on all our social channels!

Public Consultation on Mandatory PFDs

Transport Canada (TC) has an open public consultation on the question of mandatory personal flotation device (PFD) wear for recreational boaters, a topic FOCA has been discussing with members over the past two years. We encourage you to learn more and share your comments with TC by November 4, 2024. Find the link in the second "Latest News" entry on our webpage: https://foca.on.ca/boating/. While visiting, take a moment to review the OPP presentation slides on PFDs and boating accident fatalities, from the FOCA Spring Seminar earlier this year.

Public Consultation on VORR

Transport Canada (TC) has also opened a comment period on plans to modernize the Vessel Operation Restriction Regulations (VORR) process. The modernization discussion has been ongoing since 2016, to address concerns over the administrative time required to approve restrictions on local waterways, from applications made by municipalities. Read the update from TC and add your comment by November 28, 2024. For more background about VORR, consult the information webpage of our partners at the Georgian Bay Association (source of the image at the side): https://georgianbay.ca/what-you-need-to-know-about-vorrs/

Short Term Rental Accommodation

In mid-October 2024, the Township of Minden Hills enacted a Short-Term Rental By-Law that is now in effect. Applications for Licenses are being processed online only. Requirements include prominent posting of a Renter’s Code of Conduct, noise and burning bylaws, and other conditions. Get a link to this and earlier news about municipal responses to rental accommodations, on FOCA's webpage: https://foca.on.ca/rental/

Municipal Corner: Understanding the Community Planning Permit System

With multiple changes to Provincial regulations over the past few years, it can be challenging to understand how planning decisions are made by municipalities for site approvals, zoning amendments or minor variances. The City of Peterborough - which is considering implementing a Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) - has created a useful Education Booklet that explains the process and legislative timelines, and outlines which other municipalities have already adopted this model. Get a link from the "Latest News" on our webpage: https://foca.on.ca/land-use-planning/

FOCA Champions Safe & Affordable Rural Living

Funding for Wildfire Community Preparedness Events 2025

FOCA encourages each of our member associations to apply for a $500 award to hold a Wildfire Community Preparedness Day between May and October next year. There are lots of resources available to help you plan your local event. Learn more and apply using a link that will be posted between November 1 and January 31, here:

https://firesmartcanada.ca/programs/wildfire-community-preparedness-day/

Wake Impacts

FOCA's partners at Safe Quiet Lakes (SQL) held a public webinar earlier this summer that was filled with new wake impact research statistics presented by Dr. Chris Houser of the University of Waterloo. Get a link to the webinar recording and related wake resources, here: https://foca.on.ca/boating/#wake


In related news, the latest edition of LakeLine, the quarterly publication of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), is dedicated to the topic of ballast boats and related wake and invasive species impacts. NALMS subscribers can access the Fall 2024 edition online.

Tick Check

With a lovely late Autumn upon us, and great fall colour viewing in every direction, FOCA reminds you that ticks can lurk in parks and forested areas - even in your own backyard. Some ticks carry Lyme disease so learn how to protect yourself, your family, and your pets. Consult the Province's updated 2024 Lyme Disease Risk Map, and get links to important health resources, on FOCA's webpage: https://foca.on.ca/lyme-disease/

FOCA's Silver Level Sponsors

sponsors support our work, please support them

FOCA Promotes Healthy Lands, Lakes & Rivers

Learn About PFAS

PFAS are various synthetic chemicals that can harm the environment and human health. Unfortunately, they are widely present across Canada and the world. Learn more from an early October 2024 webinar, PFAS in Water: How did they get there and why are they so challenging?, part of the Itasca Practical Water Wisdom webinar series from our water partners across the border in Minnesota. 

PFAS Groundwater Innovation

Next, read about a new potential treatment to protect soil and/or groundwater from PFAS using colloidal activated carbon, as featured in an article by Water Canada in late September 2024 (source of the image at the side). Access the article from a link in the "Latest News" section of FOCA's webpage: https://foca.on.ca/pollution/

The Value of Community Science

International recognition of the need for global action on water is building, following the 2023 United Nations (UN) Water Conference and its Sustainable Development Goals. According to the 2024 UN Environment Assembly, the collection of water quality data needs to be enhanced and used for evidence-based decision making and informed water resource management. This brief calls for policy makers and local communities to work together to monitor and improve water quality through citizen science. FOCA echoes this sentiment, and thanks our longstanding Lake Stewards across the province for their ongoing water monitoring efforts! Get a link to the UN Policy Brief and more resources, here: https://foca.on.ca/citizen-science/

FOCA's Lake Partner Program

In related news: the Lake Partner Program (LPP) is a joint initiative of FOCA's volunteer Lake Stewards and the scientists of the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. If your Ontario inland lake or river is not yet being sampled as part of the LPP, we need you! Learn more here: https://foca.on.ca/lake-partner-program/


However, if you are one of our valued LPP samplers, this is your final call for any Secchi data submissions for 2024, as the season comes to an end. As you can see from the image at the side, Gavin is busy receiving and recording your Secchi data. Please remember to also return your filters, if you still have them; they will be cleaned in a bath specifically meant to remove all phosphorus, for reuse in 2025 sampling kits. Contact lakepartner@ontario.ca with any return-postage or other program questions. Thank you to our hundreds of volunteers across the province!

Invasive Phragmites

Did you miss the late September 2024 TVO Today episode about invasive phragmites threatening Ontario wetlands? As our members know, until now the battle has been fought by municipalities and community groups working in isolation. Now, there is funding for a province-wide strategy to help Ontario's wetlands recover. Watch the recording (YouTube; 11:15 minutes), part of TVO's "ONsite" series.

Partner Updates & Regional Notices

Lake Superior Algal Blooms

Climate change is causing algal blooms in Lake Superior for the first time in history, according to a recent article co-authored by Dr. Sapna Sharma, whom Elert readers will recall for her research on historical changes in lake ice cover. Superior is one of the fastest-warming lakes on the planet. Read the article published digitally by The Conversation in early October 2024, as part of their "Our lakes: their secrets and challenges" series. (image: Google maps)

Bruce Peninsula: Deep Geological Repository Vote Results

A week-long referendum in the Municipality of South Bruce showed slim support from residents for hosting Canada’s nuclear waste in a deep geological repository (DGR) in the area, as reported yesterday by CBC News (source of the image at the side; credit Michael Cole). The local Saugeen First Nation has yet to hold its own referendum. The Township of Ignace (northwest of Thunder Bay) is the other site under consideration by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. Visit our webpage for this "Latest News" and background about the DGR: https://foca.on.ca/nuclear/

Lake Erie: Rondeau Bay Erosion

Late this summer CBC Windsor (source of the image at the side) reported that erosion is exposing Rondeau Bay to Lake Erie waves, with potential impacts on farmland, wetlands, shorelands, and wildlife including species at risk. For those on Facebook, a group of residents has started a page called Barrier Beach Breaks, and has met with their MP to determine if a working group needs to be formed on the issue. Read the story, reported by CBC News.

Rainy-Lake of the Woods Forum

March 12-13, 2025 - save the date for the 2025 International Forum of the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed, which will be held in International Falls, Minnesota. There is currently a call for abstracts by December 16, 2024.

FOCA on the Road

Event Recap: International Joint Commission's Participatory Science Workshop

September 11-12, 2024 - FOCA participated in an International Joint Commission (IJC) workshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan about developing the future of community science in the Great Lakes, together with our Canadian and American water science partners. Learn more about the IJC online.

Regional Meeting: Highlands East Lake Properties (HELP)

In mid-September, FOCA visited with lake association representatives in Highlands East to discuss successes and challenges as part of their new regional network group named "HELP". The hybrid round table discussion allowed us to connect with several FOCA member associations and respond to questions about water levels, short-term accommodations, risk management and liability insurance, septic system inspections, and shoreline protection in Haliburton County. Thank you to Ron P. for the invitation, and to our hosts on Eel's Lake for the hospitality! See pictures on FOCA's Facebook page.

Event Recap: Ontario Biodiversity Council Meeting

September 24, 2024 - FOCA participated in an in-person meeting of the Ontario Biodiversity Council (OBC), representing our members interests, and welcoming the new chair of the council Kathryn Bakos. FOCA is proud of the seat we hold on the OBC alongside Indigenous communities and fellow environmental, conservation, governmental, academic, and industry organizations.  Learn more about OBC online.

Regional Meeting: Lake Networking Group Fall Meeting

September 26, 2024 - FOCA participated with eastern Ontario lake association representatives and conservation authority partners in the virtual annual Fall Meeting of the Lake Networking Group.

Regional Meeting: KLSA AGM

September 28, 2024 - FOCA participated in Buckhorn at the Annual General Meeting of the Kawartha Lake Stewards Association, a FOCA Affiliate Organization dedicated to regional water quality monitoring and research in the Kawarthas.

Event Recap: Children's Water Festival

October 1-2, 2024 - FOCA set up a display booth and interacted with future lake stewards about water sampling and water quality, at the Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children's Water Festival held at the Kinark Outdoor Centre in Haliburton.

Regional Meeting: Muskoka Summit on the Environment

October 4, 2024 - FOCA participated with Muskoka-region members and partners in the in-person return of the annual Muskoka Summit on the Environment in Bracebridge. The theme this year was "Resilience" focused on building a resilient environment for the future.

Regional Meeting: Lake Links Workshop

October 26, 2024 - FOCA participated with eastern Ontario association members and partners in the in-person return of the annual Lake Links Workshop. The theme at this year's Lake Links Workshop was "Lake Planning".

FOCA's CEO spoke about our free member resource: the Lake Planning Handbook which is filled with information about creating or updating your local community lake plan. Visit FOCA's webpage for more information: https://foca.on.ca/lake-planning/ - members can login to access a digital copy of the Handbook.

DID YOU KNOW:

Even if FOCA is unable to attend your local event, we can supply you with a short written overview, slides, and/or a 10-minute recorded video presentation about our work and your member benefits. Contact us for these resources!


Be certain to circulate the FOCA Member Benefits sheet to all your fellow members. Login on the Benefits webpage for a version with access codes, or download the version without codes for your next association membership drive!

Final Thoughts

What Lies Beneath?

According to the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), only 15% of the Great Lakes' bottom has been mapped so far. The organization has been pushing since 2018 for more high-resolution mapping of submerged hazards, fisheries, erosion, and storm surge/flood models in the face of a changing climate. "There's a lot we don't know about the lakes," said the GLOS Executive Director. "We know more about the surface of the moon." Read the CBC news article online (source of the image at the side; credit Zach Melnick).

For the Love of the Waterfront...

If you enjoyed this month's Elert, please consider making a one-time or recurring donation to support FOCA's year-round communications in support of waterfront Ontario!

FOCA is the Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Associations, the voice of the waterfront for the past 60 years. Find out more about YOUR ROLE.

info@foca.on.ca | 705-749-3622 | https://foca.on.ca

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