On Friday March 27, Camp Kawartha celebrated the completion of their Reconciling with the Land project in partnership with three local schools.
The project received $66,200 in 2024 from the Seed Grant fun as part of the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation to support three projects aimed at reconnecting students to the outdoors through education.
Camp Kawartha’s Reconciling with the Land project was a collaborative initiative transforming three local school communities through land-based learning and naturalized school grounds. Participating schools included St. John Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough and St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield and Curve Lake First Nation School.
Through partnership with the PVNC Catholic District School Board, its Indigenous Education team, Knowledge Holder Anne Taylor from Curve Lake First Nation, and the local environmental non-profit GreenUP this project exceeded expectations according to a press release.
During the celebration event, Jacob Rodenburg, Executive Director for Camp Kawartha said that the initiative delivered 108 land-based learning sessions led by Camp Kawartha together with First Nations educators. This far surpassed their original goal of 72 sessions. This initiative was able to provide hundreds of students with opportunities to connect with nature, learn from Indigenous knowledge holders, and help bring nature back to their school grounds.
The North Kawartha Figure Slating Club hosted their year end recital on Saturday March 28 at the North Kawartha Community Centre. Pictured above are skaters Abi and Erin skating to the 80s classic I Want To Dance With Somebody, with Mayor Carolyn Amyotte, MC for the night, dancing in the background. This year’s theme was 80s on ice.
North Kawartha will be hosting an open house for the public next month in an effort to gain perspective and understand resident’s thoughts on how the municipality should govern Short Term Rental (STR) properties.
At a council meeting in March, the Short Term Rental Advisory Committee presented council with recommendations and information on STRs in North Kawartha.
Back in 2023, North Kawartha formed the Short Term Rental committee with a mandate to review and recommend action, but not ban, STRs in North Kawartha.
The committee then sent out a survey in mid-2024 to North Kawartha residents to get a better understanding of the community’s views, concerns and opinions regarding STRs within the township.
With 500 responses, the committee was able to compile the results and recommend actionable steps to council to improve issues regarding STRs within North Kawartha.
The survey asked if residents thought STRs were a problem within the township. The results were pretty evenly split with 49.82 per cent (279) of respondents saying yes, and 50.18 per cent (281) saying no.
(March 30, 2026) – The well water sampling program resumes next Tuesday in the Township of North Kawartha and the Municipality of Trent Lakes. The program offers free sample collection kit pick-up and sample drop-off through these municipal offices.
Beginning Tuesday April 7, 2026, water samples can be dropped off at:
• North Kawartha Municipal Office located at 280 Burleigh Street, Apsley, ON, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and,
• Trent Lakes Municipal Office located at 760 County Road 36, Trent Lakes, ON, Tuesday and Thursdays between 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Samples are then couriered to the Public Health Ontario Lab in Peterborough for testing. Empty sample bottles can be picked up at any time during regular business hours.
Well water testing is recommended at least twice per year, Spring and Fall. The samples are tested for two types of bacterial contamination:
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