The United Way Peterborough & District has raised $855,000 so far for its 2025-26 community campaign, which is just over half of the campaign’s ambitious $1.6 million goal.

United Way CEO Jim Russell shared the mid-campaign update on Friday (December 12), which was also the organization’s annual Peterborough Pajama Day, where community members and workplaces donate $5 to the United Way and wear their PJs or other comfy clothes for the day.

Events like Pajama Day contribute to the 2025-2026 campaign goal while also raising awareness of the rising demand for essential services provided by the United Way’s 20 local partner agencies in the Peterborough area, including housing and homelessness, food support, counselling, crisis intervention, and youth services.

“PJ Day is a lighthearted way for people to come together and show their United Way spirit,” Russell said in a media release. “It’s fun, it’s engaging, and it reminds us what we can achieve when we rally together. We are heartened by the incredible support, conversations, and energy we’ve seen on the campaign trail this year.”

After exceeding its ambitious fundraising goal of $1.5 million last year, the United Way increased this year’s goal by $100,000.

“This year, our goal is higher because the need is higher,” Russell explained. “We increased this year’s campaign goal by $100,000 because our 20 partner agencies are responding to unprecedented pressures, especially around homelessness, food insecurity, youth supports, and mental health. This is a moment for all of us to come together.”

Russell added that the United Way recognizes that people can feel financially stretched during the holidays, but a donation to the organization goes a long way by strengthening the entire social safety net for the community.

“This campaign has always been about neighbours helping neighbours,” said United Way campaign chair Paul Rellinger. “We’ve made meaningful progress, but now we’re asking the community to help us push across the finish line. Peterborough has a long history of stepping up, and I know we can do it again.”

According to the United Way, the $1.5 million raised during last year’s community campaign allows the organization’s partner agencies to deliver 266 programs and services to people in the city and county of Peterborough, including 15,013 nights of safe shelter for families and youth experiencing housing insecurity, 243,042 nutritious and culturally appropriate meals, snacks, and food boxes, and 6,472 support sessions to help individuals overcome barriers to employment and access legal and financial wellness resources.

“These numbers represent real people — families, seniors, and youth who needed someone in their corner,” Russell said. “And this year, those needs are only increasing.”

To make donations go further, the United Way has brought back its “double your difference” donation match challenge. Anonymous donors will match 100 per cent of donations of any amount made by those who did not donate to the United Way last year, and will also match increases of 10 per cent or more made by returning donors over the amount they donated last year.

“These matching dollars mean every gift goes further, especially right now,” Russell said. “If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to give, this is it.”

With just over three months left until the campaign concludes on March 31, the United Way is calling on individuals, workplaces, service clubs, and organizations across Peterborough and the County to help meet the $1.6 million goal.

Upcoming campaign events over the winter months include the ongoing monthly 50/50 draw, workplace and community fundraisers, and Peterborough Performs VI on February 26 at Showplace Performance Centre. The United Way notes that tickets for the 50/50 draw and Peterborough Performs also make purposeful holiday gifts.

“We have made meaningful progress, and for that we are deeply grateful,” Russell said. “And we are optimistic, because we know what this community can do when we all pull together to reach, and hopefully exceed, our goal so we can sustain the essential services people rely on. Every gift, at any level, moves us closer. Together, we can finish strong for Peterborough.”

Donations can be made online at give.unitedway.ca/donate/wpeter, by calling 705-742-8839, or in person at the United Way office at 277 Stewart Street in downtown Peterborough.

100 Women Peterborough has chosen the Ennismore Inclusive Playground Project to receive a donation of more than $10,000 that will support a plan to build Jude’s Joy at Ennismore Waterfront Park, the first barrier-free playground in Selwyn Township.

The collective philanthropy group held its fourth and final meeting of 2025 on Tuesday (December 9) at The Venue in downtown Peterborough. At each of the group’s quarterly meetings, members hears presentations from three non-profit organizations randomly drawn from a larger list of organizations nominated by the group’s members. Each member commits to donating $100, and the organization that gets the most member votes receives the collective donations.

The three organizations that presented to 100 Women Peterborough at December’s meeting were GreenUP, Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Foundation, and Jude’s Joy, with the latter chosen by majority vote to receive member donations.

Julie Grant, a long-time advocate for accessible and inclusive playgrounds, teamed up with the Ennismore Optimist Club in 2024 to launch the Ennismore Inclusive Playground Project, with the goal of raising $250,000 to cover the cost of building a barrier-free playground at Ennismore Waterfront Park. The playground is named Jude’s Joy after Grant’s son Jude.

“Seeing Jude, my son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and global developmental delay, and other children with disabilities miss out on play experiences with their peers fuelled my sense of social responsibility,” Grant said. “This is why our goal of enhancing accessibility at the Ennismore Waterfront Park has always gone beyond just the playground area.”

The recreational space in the Ennismore Waterfront Park will include accessible play equipment, as well as rubber surfacing instead of the sand and wood chip surfaces typically found at playgrounds. Not only will the space be inclusive for children who face mobility limitations, but it will allow parents and grandparents with disabilities to play alongside children.

Along with Grant, presenters from Jude’s Joy at Tuesday’s meeting included her friend and project partner Nancy Turner as well as Angela Chittick, manager of community and corporate services at Selwyn Township.

100 Women Peterborough founding member Rosalea Terry said she was “thrilled to see our membership show up” on Tuesday night despite the bad weather.

“It speaks volumes about our shared commitment to supporting charities that make a real difference in our community,” Terry added. “We are proud to have just wrapped our eighth year of impact in Peterborough with a collective donation to Jude’s Joy and are excited to continue giving back in 2026.”

Since its formation in 2018, 100 Women Peterborough has collectively donated over $260,000 to 28 local organizations.

Organizations that have received member donations include YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, Vinnies Peterborough, Hospice Peterborough, Peterborough Youth Unlimited, One Roof Warming Room, New Canadians Centre, Cameron House, Five Counties Children’s Centre, Casa De Angelae, Lakefield Animal Welfare Society, Community Care Peterborough, Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, Community Counselling and Resource Centre, Peterborough Pregnancy Support Services, Heads Up for Inclusion, Kawartha Youth Orchestra, Peterborough GreenUP, Bridges Peterborough, YMCA Strong Communities, Homeward Bound Peterborough, Good Neighbours Care Centre and Food Bank, PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network, Camp Kawartha, the Teachers For Kids Foundation, Hearts 4 Joy, Camp Northern Lights, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough, and Jude’s Joy.

100 Women Peterborough is part of a growing collective philanthropy movement that began in the United States in November 2006, when Karen Dunigan of Michigan formed the “100 Women Who Care” group. After their first meeting, those women raised over $10,000 for the purchase of 300 new baby cribs for a local organization. The movement has grown over the past 19 years to include groups of men, women, youth, and children around the world, with hundreds of chapters in Canada alone.

For more information about 100 Women Peterborough, visit www.100womenptbo.ca.

Federal officials have confirmed that the Ottawa–Montreal corridor will be the first segment to move forward as part of Alto’s planned high-speed rail network, marking a key milestone in what is being billed as one of the largest infrastructure projects in Canadian history.

At an announcement in Gatineau, Quebec on Friday (December 12), federal transport minister Steven MacKinnon and Alto president and CEO Martin Imbleau said the initial phase of the project will see high-speed rail built between Ottawa and Montreal, a route of roughly 200 kilometres spanning Ontario and Quebec, including a stop in Laval.

According to MacKinnon, it is “logical” to begin with the Ottawa–Montreal segment as it is the shortest and straightest segment of the corridor, since high-speed trains “don’t like curves.” It is also intended to deliver early benefits to travellers and communities while allowing work to begin simultaneously in both provinces. Construction on the segment is expected to begin in 2029.

“This announcement marks an important step forward in delivering faster, cleaner, and more connected transportation for Canadians,” MacKinnon said in a media release. “By working closely with Alto and our partners across governments and communities, we are laying the groundwork for a high-speed rail network that will put Canada firmly on the global map for modern rail innovation, strengthening the economy, creating good jobs, and connecting people across this vital corridor.”

The Ottawa–Montreal segment is part of a broader vision for Canada’s first high-speed rail network, which would eventually stretch approximately 1,000 kilometres from Toronto to Quebec City. Planned stops between Toronto and Quebec City include Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, and Trois-Rivières.

Trains are expected to reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, cutting travel times in half and connecting regions that are home to nearly half of Canada’s population. For example, the estimated travel time between Peterborough and Toronto would be 40 minutes — 45 per cent faster than the 90 minutes required when travelling by road with normal traffic.

According to Alto, which is the Crown corporation overseeing the project, focusing on the shorter and cross-provincial Ottawa–Montreal segment first will help accelerate delivery and build the skilled workforce needed to expand the network to Toronto in the west and Quebec City in the east.

“Undertaking one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Canada’s history requires multi-stage planning,” said Imbleau. “Focusing first on the Ottawa–Montreal segment is a logical step to optimize the project, accelerate delivery, and generate tangible local economic benefits.”

Imbleau added that the approach will allow Alto to mobilize teams more quickly in both provinces while continuing work on the remaining segments of the corridor. With each segment estimated to take six to eight years to build, the entire Toronto–Québec City rail corridor would be completed in the early 2040s.

Beginning in January, Alto will launch a three-month consultation process with the general public as the first phase of a longer-term consultation that will inform the selection of preferred routes and station locations, with a second public consultation process early in 2027.

The initial consultation process will include an online engagement platform, virtual sessions, and in-person open houses, including one scheduled to take place in Peterborough at McDonnel Street Community Centre on Thursday, February 26. Full details on consultation dates and participation options are available on Alto’s website at www.altotrain.ca/en/public-consultation/.

In addition to the public consultations, Alto will also continue engagement with Indigenous communities, municipalities, and public institutions throughout design, environmental studies, construction, and long-term operations. Alto says the project will be guided by commitments to reconciliation and sustainability.

The Canadian government has identified the high-speed rail project as a transformative national initiative and confirmed it will receive support from the Major Projects Office, which means the project will begin four years earlier than the original timeline. Pre-procurement activities are expected to begin in 2026, with Alto and its partner Cadence providing information to industry participants.

The federal government estimates the project could boost Canada’s GDP by up to $35 billion, create approximately 51,000 jobs during construction, and support tens of thousands more across sectors including steel manufacturing, concrete production, electrical systems, digital technologies, and skilled trades.

Beyond direct economic impacts, the project is also expected to boost tourism, support more affordable housing development along the Toronto–Québec City corridor, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by potentially removing 100,000 cars from roads.