Ecology centre looks to recover after last year’s devastating storm

The Canadian Ecology Centre is facing a $300,000 deficit after a 280-day closure from a downburst early last summer; fundraising is underway as it reopens.

The Canadian Ecology Centre has been closed without revenue after the devastating downburst closed the Samuel De Champlain Provincial Park on June 21, 2025.

The centre is grappling with a $300,000 deficit as it prepares to reopen on May 8 alongside camping at the provincial park.

Bill Steer, the Canadian Ecology Centre’s general manager, said many people incorrectly believe it is funded by the government.

“We receive no operating subsidies from any form of government,” Steer said.

“We are a non-profit. And it’s been a long time without people coming into the park and to the Canadian Ecology Centre.”

The 280-day closure has prompted the centre to begin raising funds to cover its financial shortfall. The ninth annual Earth Day Book Talk will be the first of several fundraisers.

Steer said the community support has been major during the centre’s closure.

“It’s gratifying to know that the community is stepping up not only to have our own fundraisers, but we have individual efforts in the community stepping up,” he said.

“There’s going to be a reptile camp fundraiser. There’s another group forming a session with a bunch of community bands as a fundraiser. And there are others in the works that the people want to do.”

Steer said the closure has been full of challenges.

“Right now, we are facing a financial challenge, to be sure, because we need that revenue,” he said.

“We’ve got debts to pay. We held back a lot of down payments before the storm based on the summer of 2025. So we’ve got to dig a big ourselves out of this financial hole.”

Originally, the centre was slated to open on the first of this year, but Steer said the hundreds of thousands of trees that had to be chipped caused a delay.

“I think the estimate now that more than 500 truckloads of chip vans have left the park,” he said.

“That certainly had an impact on our operating -- having to delay from the storm on June 21 to May 8.”