Hydro One awards environmental activist group $25,000 to protect local park
By David Yin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Hydro One awarded the Friends of Swan Lake Park (FOSLP) a $25,000 grant through the company’s 2025 Energizing Life Community Fund.
FOSLP is a non-profit group dedicated towards restoring Swan Lake Park’s water quality, ecosystems, and wildlife.
According to an FOSLP media release, the activist group will use the funding to hire professional advisors. These advisors will help guide FOSLP towards habitat rehabilitation and a water quality review.
The release added that FOSLP needs to raise $60,000 to hire advisors by 2026, and that the group already received $15,000 from other major contributors.
The release further described the two projects that the advisors will assist FOSLP on.
FOSLP will work with the City of Markham next year to review the city’s five-year efforts to improve Swan Lake’s water quality. The group will also collaborate with the city to produce a new five-year plan for the lake.
The City of Markham deemed the lake as hypereutrophic – the lowest quality level – in 2011.
Additionally, the release said that FOSLP will develop a strategy to preserve the park’s wildlife species amid the increasing urbanization of the surrounding neighbourhood.
According to a 2025 FOSLP report, eBird users recorded sightings for 184 bird species at the park – the 4th highest in Markham. Only Milne Dam Conservation Park, Reesor Pond, and Grand Cornell Park ranked higher.
“It’s inspiring to see the Friends of Swan Lake Park improve people’s well-being by fostering meaningful connections and providing essential resources,” said Bronwen Evans, vice president of sustainability, communications, and marketing at Hydro One. “Our 2025 recipients are powerful agents of local change, and we are excited to partner with them through our Energizing Life Community Fund.”
“Swan Lake Park is an environmental oasis in the midst of an intensifying urban centre, and we are very grateful to Hydro One for supporting our efforts to sustain this ecologically diverse centerpiece in Markham,” said Fred Peters, chair of FOSLP.
FOSLP held a public event at the park last June to educate residents about the park’s biodiversity, as well as the group’s park restoration efforts.
The group also held a subcommittee meeting with the city around one week later to review the city’s initiatives towards park restoration.
To learn more, head to friendsofswanlakepark.ca.
Photo: Friends of Swan Lake Park members hosting a nature walk to engage residents in Swan Lake Park’s restoration at a summer public event. (David Yin photo)