Some Peterborough residents are upset that city-owned trees on the easement portion of their property, such as a boulevard beside a sidewalk, have been removed with no prior notice or explanation from the city.

That includes several residents in an East City neighbourhood who, earlier this week, were surprised and alarmed when arborist crews appeared and began taking down several mature trees that appeared to be healthy.

According to an email from Bob Pitchford, operations manager of public works for the City of Peterborough, trees are being removed that the city’s urban forestry technologists have identified as hazards. The city has 20 to 25 contracted arborist crews that are working to remove the identified trees based on a list provided to them by city staff.

While the work is being done as part of the city’s response to the damage caused by the ice storm at the end of March, trees may be removed for reasons other than ice storm damage.

“Trees are not being removed based on how much damage they suffered as a result of the ice storm,” Pitchford says. “They are being actioned based on the overall tree health and level of risk they pose. We have identified several trees requiring removal due to high likelihood of failure despite suffering no storm damage. This has only been the initial risk assessment process and a more thorough and in-depth tree risk assessment is still yet to come.”

Pitchford says the city does not remove healthy trees “under any circumstance” — only trees that are badly damaged or “found to be in a high likelihood of failure.”

“If the tree was in good health and suffered minimal damage then a pruning order was issued to simply prune out storm damage and improve the overall health of the tree,” Pitchford says.

A foreman of one of the city-contracted crews told kawarthaNOW that crews have the discretion to remove a tree that has a pruning order if they determine the tree is a hazard. According to Pitchford, the reverse is also true.

“The contractors in the field have the skills and ability to prune a tree that is slated for removal should they feel the tree can be saved, and vice versa — they can remove a tree that is slated to be pruned if they feel the damage is too extensive.”

Prior to the work beginning, the city did not issue a media release, and Pitchford says no advance notice will be provided to residents who will lose trees. He notes the city is not following the normal process where an orange dot is sprayed on the trunk of a tree that will be removed.

“Given the mass volume of trees we are dealing with post-ice storm, we have not taken the time to paint each tree slated for removal,” says Pitchford, adding that — aside from marking trees to be removed — the city does not normally provide any formal notice to residents when a tree is slated for removal, with the exception of ash trees which are part of a special program.

“We are simply actioning trees as fast as possible to reduce the likelihood of failure and to best manage our level of risk.”

For residents who have had a city-owned tree removed, Pitchford says the city normally replaces every tree within two to three years from removal. According to the city’s website, stump grinding takes place the year after removal and replanting the following spring or fall.

“Having said that, these are not normal operations and the city cannot provide timelines on the lengthy process ahead of us, with over 3,500 service requests and possibly over a thousand of those being removals,” he says. “This process will take time but we continue to make every effort to complete the process as quickly as possible.”

Pitchford says the city’s urban forestry technologists have also inspected trees in city-owned parks, marking trees slated for removal with a diagonal slash and those requiring pruning with a line and arrow.

In a median of the parking lot at Beavermead Park, at least 12 mature trees have been removed, all of which were ash trees ranging from poor to moderate to good condition.

“The city of Peterborough has a duty of care to provide within our urban forestry canopy and we take every measure to ensure we maintain the tree canopy in a manner to mitigate risk and liability,” Pitchford says.

There is a great wave of national pride running through Canada right now. The maple leaf seems to be everywhere.

At GreenUP Ecology Park, not only will there be great maple trees available for purchase at the native plant and tree nursery opening on Saturday (May 17), but this five-acre urban oasis also features something else that ties Canada together: the Trans Canada Trail.

The Trans Canada Trail is the longest multi-use trail system in the world, touching three oceans and joining 15,000 rural, urban, and Indigenous communities together. It connects each one of the provinces and territories, including a section on Baffin Island, Nunavut.

Ecology Park is home to a small section of this iconic 28,000-kilometre (and growing) trail system — and its tree canopy, which has suffered in recent years.

First, Emerald ash borer killed all local ash trees, which was once the most dominant species within the park. In 2022, the historic derecho levelled many beautiful stately trees, roots and all. Then just this past March, the ice storm damaged or destroyed even more of the thinning canopy.

While this level of climate-related decline is disheartening, GreenUP is determined to replant and improve the resiliency of Ecology Park.

“With recent storms and the ongoing biodiversity crisis, it’s clear that we need to act to protect the future of our beautiful region,” says GreenUP executive director Tegan Moss.

This year, GreenUP will be working with friends at the Trans Canada Trail to enhance the urban forest throughout Ecology Park. The initiative will see 12 large specimen trees and two large specimen shrubs planted along the trail, and the installation of educational signage describing what makes these trees so special.

Beginning this spring, species planted will include familiar trees such as black walnut, black cherry, and American mountain ash, as well as rare and showy Carolinian species such as the rare cucumber magnolia, eastern redbud, and pawpaw.

In the cooler fall months, planting will continue with a large variety of smaller bareroot stock throughout the naturalized areas of the park. Species will include the famous Canadian sugar maple, bur oak, trembling aspen, hackberry, and black chokeberry.

“We are grateful to the Trans Canada Trail for working with GreenUP to restore and identify rare and significant native trees in Ecology Park,” Moss says.

Volunteers are invited to help plant the many large stature trees along the Trans Canada Trail on June 10 and 11, or to help with the bareroot plantings on October 14 and 15. Applications are available at greenup.on.ca/volunteer/.

The community can also participate in upcoming stewardship events, workshops, and volunteer opportunities through GreenUP’s Ecology Park 2025 Stewardship Series. From invasive species removal to pollinator garden design, tree tours to seed collecting, there is something for everyone. Updates will be posted at greenup.on.ca/events/ as details unfold.

For those wishing to enhance biodiversity at home, GreenUP Little Forest Kits are now available for purchase at greenup.on.ca/little-forests-kits/. Each kit comes with everything needed to start a 16 square-metre little dense forest ecosystem, including 56 trees and shrubs.

Each young tree tucked into the soil can be an inspiration and a source of pride. Renewing the canopy along the Trans Canada Trail links local environmental stewardship to a coast-to-coast ribbon of green. Whether in your own back yard or as a volunteer at Ecology Park, GreenUP believes that caring for the land is a Canadian tradition that everyone can learn to participate in.

GreenUP’s Ecology Park Native Plant and Tree Nursery carries a large stock of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses, sedges, and ferns, along with a healthy dose of friendly advice.

The nursery opens for the 2025 season on Saturday, May 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will subsequently be open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until October.

The Ecology Park Trans Canada Trail Tree Planting project was funded in part by a grant from Trans Canada Trail, along with generous donations from the community. Donations to GreenUP Ecology Park can be made at https://greenup.on.ca/donate-now/.

With the theme of “Roll, Stroll, and Celebrate!”, the City of Peterborough has announced this year’s Canada Day celebrations — and they won’t include the traditional Canada Day parade.

Instead, there will be a “community procession” departing from City Hall at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 1 and proceeding to Millennium Park for a full afternoon of family-friendly festivities.

“We’re reimagining Canada Day as a day of shared reflection, connection, and celebration through community, culture, and creativity,” reads a media release from the city.

“The community procession is an inclusive and informal walk open to individuals, families, and local organizations who wish to walk, bike, or roll from City Hall to the park together,” the release states. “Please note that this is not a traditional parade and no motorized vehicles or large floats are permitted.”

Also unlike previous years, there will be no family activities at Confederation Square, which traditionally took place for a couple of hours before the parade began at noon. Instead, there will be a full afternoon of music, performances, food, cultural activities, and family programming at Millennium Park from noon until 6 p.m.

However, there will still be a decorated bike contest during the morning community procession “for participants of all ages,” with prizes awarded for the most creative and playful designs.

According to the city, the afternoon activities at Millennium Park will include live performances by local artists and entertainers, kids’ activities and family zones, food and beverage vendors hosted by the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), and interactive cultural displays and information booths.

“Canada Day 2025 emphasizes accessibility, inclusion, and sustainability, featuring local talent, community organizations, and diverse cultural programming that reflects the spirit of Peterborough,” the release states.

The city is encouraging performers, arts and crafts vendors, and food and beverage vendors who want to participate in the afternoon’s activities at Millennium Park to apply by 4 p.m. on Friday, May 30 at peterborough.ca/canadaday.

After the festivities at Millennium Park, Peterborough Musicfest will be presenting a city-sponsored free admission concert at 8 p.m. at Del Crary Park.

The concert be followed by a fireworks display over Little Lake at 9:30 p.m.

The city will also be hosting a free outdoor movie night at dusk on Monday, June 30 at Quaker Foods City Square, with the movie to be announced.

The city’s “reimagining” of Canada Day celebrations comes a year after city staff recommended the cancellation of the 2024 Canada Day parade due to continued declining participation, proposing using the parade’s $20,000 budget for other activities instead, such as family-friendly events at Millennium Park and Del Crary Park and an evening fireworks event following the Peterborough Musicfest concert.

City council rejected the staff recommendation, approving the parade to continue for another year until staff could report back to council on the results of the 2024 parade.

Although city staff conducted a survey asking residents for feedback on 2025 Canada Day celebrations, stating that “feedback collected through this survey will help inform recommendations for city council for the 2025 Canada Day celebration,” kawarthaNOW is unaware of any staff recommendations that were brought forward in 2025 for city council’s consideration.

It takes dedication to turn thousands of used milk bags into sleeping mats but, for two hours every week, volunteer community members gather at Calvary Pentecostal Church in Peterborough to do exactly that in support of the unhoused community.

To date the group has made 52 sleeping mats and, with a new sponsorship program available through volunteer group Clean Up Peterborough, there is opportunity for more community groups to be a part of the initiative and produce more mats.

“(The mats are) fairly thin and they provide some comfort with cushioning and insulation to keep people from the damp, and they’re fairly light,” says church group organizer Tim Young. “It’s a considerable amount of work to get the mat completed but the group enjoys getting together and having a good time, and the end result is somebody getting a cushioned mat to sleep on.”

Tim first learned to turn four-litre plastic milk bags into sleeping mats on mission trips to Haiti. When he was no longer able to go overseas, he decided to use the newfound skillset at home.

“We thought this would be a good way to get together and do something for the community and show that some people care,” says Tim. “That’s what we’ve been doing ever since.”

Since beginning the initiative in 2023, Tim has built two looms to streamline the process of weaving the bags into 33-by-78-inch mats. The looms have 34 nails on either end to secure the bags and keep them tight within the mat. The bags are cut in half and linked together so that each mat is seven links long, before volunteers cross weave bags through every two rows until they reach the end.

“We have gotten to the point now where we can quickly get them together,” Tim adds, noting the beginning and ending are the toughest parts. “Other than that, it’s fairly simple. Once you get started, it’s just a matter of in and out, over and under, until you’re done.”

Each week, the group of approximately six to eight volunteers (both members of the church and non-members) splits into different “stations” where half of the volunteers do the cutting and looping of the bags into seven-link chains, before passing them on to the weavers.

The efficient process is necessary considering it takes roughly 500 milk bags to create just one sleeping mat. Fortunately, says Tim, the group is always happy to lend their time, and it’s become a social event.

“Everybody seems to enjoy getting together,” Tim says. “They’re talking about family and talking about what’s going on in their lives and what’s going on in the world. It’s just a good time to get together and have some good conversation while we’re still showing the love of Christ to people in our community.”

When the mats are complete — with the group averaging one per week now — they are distributed through Street Level Advocacy, an organization that works with vulnerable populations in the city. The organization delivers the mats where necessary and, according to Tim, the response from users is always encouraging.

“They told us that people were very happy,” he says. “Several people on the streets say they really enjoy them, so we’re glad to be able to supply them.”

Now, volunteer group Clean Up Peterborough is working towards its mission to clean up the planet by partnering with Calvary Church for the “Weave Hope” initiative. The group has been collecting milk bags for months, including from local cafes like KitCoffee and Dreams of Beans every other Friday.

With no shortage of milk bags to repurpose, Clean Up Peterborough founder Steve Paul, upon seeing the volunteer group at Calvary Church in action, saw a need for more of the looms to transform the milk bags into sleeping mats.

“They have it all sorted out and it’s really streamlined and amazing to see,” Steve says. “I saw they’re all having fun, they’re all joking, laughing, and building these wonderful mats at the same time. Seeing this camaraderie, the community, and access to free bags, I thought to myself if we could replicate the loom, people would be likely to want to be involved.”

Community groups, teams, or organizations wanting to support the initiative can sponsor the build of a loom to then be used to weave more mats, with $200 covering the cost of materials as well as an honorarium for the volunteer who builds the loom.

With varying sponsorship levels available, including for schools and businesses who want to build the looms themselves, the support would also allow community groups to use the new looms for regular or one-off volunteer events.

“People can bring the loom in and go ahead and make something for two hours, or it can be something like Calvary (Church) where they’ve got a bit of space to host and hold the loom materials,” says Steve. “There’s lots of opportunities if people want to get involved.”

Given that Clean Up Peterborough’s slogan is “Let’s make a difference together,” Steve suggests it’s community connections like these that fuel the volunteer group.

“The whole part that I really love about this is that we’re all working together to make our community better,” he says.

“Can you imagine if we made 10 more of these looms and we could have groups across the city and even country that were involved in it?”

As for Tim, he’s happy to grow the initiative for the greater good in a way that brings neighbours together.

“It’s being able to give back to the community and show some love and care for the less fortunate in Peterborough,” he says. “In my faith, we’re told by Christ himself to love one another and to look after the less fortunate. I think this is a minor way of doing that, and at the same time, get people in the community involved.”

For more information or to sponsor a loom, email Steve at Clean Up Peterborough at cleanuppeterborough@gmail.com.

From transforming dated antiques into sleek new pieces, over 20 community members took a shot at flipping furniture for the sake of supporting more affordable housing in the Peterborough area.

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region (Habitat PKR), in partnership with Chemong Home Hardware Building Centre (Chemong HHBC), has announced the 2025 winners of its second annual furniture-flipping contest called “The Big Flip.”

Held in celebration of Earth Day, the contest continues to inspire sustainability and creativity, said Habitat PKR in a media release.

This year’s contest saw 22 entries and 1,427 community votes, all in support of reducing waste and showcasing the value of upcycling. Participants were encouraged to find used furniture, transform it, and submit photos of their item before, during, and after the transformation.

“It was so fun to see 22 creative and totally unique entries this year, and especially exciting to spot pieces that started out on the floor of our very own Habitat ReStores,” Holly O’Connor, marketing and communications manager for Habitat PKR, told kawarthaNOW.

Habitat PKR operates three ReStores located in Peterborough, Lindsay, and Lakefield. The non-profit stores sell new and gently used building materials, furniture, and home décor. Shopping, donating, and volunteering at ReStores supports affordable homeownership and sustainability by diverting items from landfills.

“What I love most about The Big Flip is the ongoing impact it has,” O’Connor said.

“Just like shopping at the ReStore, it’s a sustainable choice. It gives old furniture a new life, keeps perfectly good items out of the landfill, and when flipped pieces are bought from the ReStores, they directly support our mission of building more affordable homes. That’s such a powerful combination of creativity, community, and purpose.”

This year’s instalment featured two new categories, “Big & Bold” and “Small but Mighty,” to encourage an even broader range of entries, she added.

Big & Bold winner Janice Brown transformed a hutch for her husband’s miniature wargaming collection, creating an organized and beautiful display for game pieces of various sizes. As an artist, painting was a natural part of her process.

“I was so excited to enter The Big Flip and flip the dresser,” Brown said. “Painting was always going to be a part of the transformation. It’s something we both love.”

Small but Mighty winner Jordanne Posch chose to flip a second-hand dresser with damaged veneer. She sanded, painted, and embossed the drawers using stencil work and DRYDex spackling.

“It needed some love,” Posch said. “I finished it with cabinet paint and polyurethane to protect the piece and make it last.”

Each winner received gift cards to use at Chemong HHBC and a Habitat ReStore, with Brown winning $500 to use at Chemong HHBC and $100 at a Habitat ReStore and Posch $250 for Chemong HHBC and $50 for a Habitat ReStore, as well as a membership to the Peterborough Tool Library.

“The Big Flip is more than just a fun contest,” said Habitat PKR CEO Susan Zambonin in a statement. “It’s a celebration of Earth Day, a testament to the power of community partnerships — like our incredible collaboration with Chemong Home Hardware Building Centre — and a reminder that creativity can drive real environmental impact.”

Chemong HHBC marketing coordinator Alaura Jopling agreed.

“It’s amazing to see the creativity and care our community puts into these flips,” Jopling said. “Whether it’s choosing the right paint, picking out hardware, or just asking for a bit of DIY advice, we love being part of that journey. This contest is such a fun and meaningful way to keep great pieces out of landfills and give them new life.”

In 2024, Habitat PKR;s three ReStores diverted 340,028 items from landfills as a result of donations of new and gently used building materials, furniture, appliances, and home décor items. Every item purchased or donated at the Habitat ReStore helps fund affordable housing projects across the Peterborough and Kawartha Region.

Ernie Ferguson, the former owner of Ferguson Cleaners in Peterborough, has passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by family at the age of 97.

Ferguson, who chose to pursue medical assistance in dying (MAiD) due to serious complications from heart issues, selected Monday (May 12) as the date of his passing — the 74th anniversary of his marriage to Mona (nee Peirson), who passed away in 2022 just days shy of her 91st birthday.

Married on May 12, 1951 at George Street United Church, the couple had two children early on: Heather Jane and Clarinda (Cindy) Catherine. In January 1970, the couple welcomed Marcus Charles, who they adopted and brought to Peterborough from Ottawa.

Ferguson’s decades-long career in laundry and dry cleaning originates in 1941, when he was in Grade 8 at King George Public School.

“Dad delivered for Lansfields Cleaners on Louis Street,” Ferguson told kawarthaNOW in 2023. “One day, Ivan Lillico, who owned Lillico Motors where Dad bought his vehicles, said ‘You’re working for Lansfields and he is making all kinds of money but you’re doing all the work. You should start your own business.'”

After accepting Lillico’s offer of space at a building he owned on Water Street, Ferguson’s mother and father opened Ferguson Cleaners, a laundry and dry cleaning business. Young Ernie worked there along with his brother Wayne and sister Arlene, alongside a host of longtime loyal employees.

When Ferguson’s dad decided to incorporate the business in 1959, he brought Ernie and Wayne in as partners. When Twin Cleaners on Monaghan Road went up for sale, the brothers bought the business, which Wayne ran. With time, the laundry and dry cleaning ’empire’ grew with four buildings — the last being at 128 Hunter Street East, today home to Ashburnham Ale House.

The last day of 1990 saw Ferguson sell the business, freeing up time for him and Mona to do what they did for years and still loved to do — volunteer.

“Mona started volunteering with her mother at the old Civic Hospital; she took a cart around and sold books and treats and stuff,” Ferguson said. “Next thing you know she’s volunteering with Community Care (Meals On Wheels) and then got into volunteering with the Food For Kids program. It’s something we loved to do together.”

At age 88, Mona marked 50 years as a Community Care volunteer. Her husband helped out for 29 years following his retirement.

In spring 2019, Community Care Peterborough featured Ernie and Mona Ferguson on the cover of the charity’s “The Thread” publication in recognition of their combined 80 years of volunteering for the organization, with Mona the longest-serving volunteer in Community Care Peterborough’s history.

Shortly before his beloved wife Mona passed away in 2022 and at the urging of his daughter, then 94-year-old Ferguson decided to write the story of his life.

That effort resulting in his 2023 memoir Thanks for the Memories, a 70-page collection of wide-ranging reminisces.

“I was unsure of a title, but one morning I woke up and to my mind came ‘Thanks for the Memories,'” Ferguson recalled, adding “That was my Mona communicating with me. She was thanking me for the memories.”

According to his son Marcus, Ferguson decided to register with MAiD in February after experiencing serious complications from heart issues that would require a difficult surgery.

“For the past three months I have been celebrating my father’s life with my father,” Marcus wrote in a Facebook tribute to his dad. “To be clear I did not want him to go through with it. Knowing my father it’s pointless to try and change his mind. My only option was to love him, and support him.”

“He knows what he wants, he’s thought long and hard about it and never once was swayed. He is a happy person of sound mind. His mantra has been ‘I’m tired and I just want to go home and be with Mona.'”

A drop-in celebration of life for Ernie and Mona Ferguson will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday (May 14) at the Peterborough Legion at 1550 Lansdowne Street West.

With files from Paul Rellinger.

Eleven new physicians have engaged with the City of Peterborough’s physician recruitment pilot project, with six having agreements or commitments to receive financial incentives.

The city’s economic development director Darryl Julott, along with the city’s physician recruitment coordinator Chantal Van Parys, presented an update on the pilot project to council meeting as general committee on Monday night (May 12).

In April 2024, council gave city staff direction for a new approach to physician recruitment in the City of Peterborough, which resulted in establishing a pilot project until the end of December 2025 with a budget of $580,000. The city hired a physician recruitment coordinator last fall, with responsibility for the pilot project moved under the city’s new economic development department.

In a presentation to council, Julott noted the focus of the physician recruitment pilot project is both on recruiting and retaining family doctors, to reduce the number of unattached patients and to prevent patients from becoming unattached when existing physicians retire.

Julott said that, since April 2024, over 6,000 unattached patients have been seen by the Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT) unattached patient clinic, which includes three new part-time physicians. The clinic, which received $6,000 from the pilot program for eye and ear examination equipment and security equipment, has saved an estimated $370,804 by diverting these patients from the emergency department at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

In addition, six new Family Health Organization physicians have been added, preventing 8,000 patients from going on the unattached list. Three new physicians have also been added to the Community Health Centre in Peterborough Square, with one of those to join the centre in August, with a goal of rostering 6,500 new patients.

Julott also said a new family physician operating at Northcrest Pharmasave Pharmacy’s medical clinic has rostered 2,200 patients.

The pilot project’s financial incentive program, which offered $15,000 over three years to eligible new family physicians, focused on helping doctors with start-up costs when establishing a new practice in Peterborough. Julott said all the incentive funds available in the pilot project have been expended.

The pilot project also features a “Whole of Village” incentive program to encourage family doctors to locate in Peterborough by providing additional supports such as working with community partners to address spousal employment and child care needs.

That program offered three additional financial incentives: a patient roster bonus to encourage physicians to receive as many patients as possible, an ambassador bonus to encourage physicians to recruit other physicians, and a “hometown proud” bonus to encourage healthcare professionals to stay in Peterborough. Julott said all these incentive funds have also been expended.

According to an email from physician recruitment coordinator Chantal Van Parys that kawarthaNOW received following Monday night’s meeting, six of the new physicians mentioned in the presentation have agreements or commitments of financial incentives within the pilot project.

They do not include the three new physicians at the Community Health Centre, which are salaried positions that do not qualify for incentives. One physician who came out of retirement to go back to practice also doesn’t qualify for incentives, and an additional physician who joined her family member’s practice didn’t engage with the pilot project for incentives.

“This is not a net number (of new physicians in Peterborough and Peterborough County), but ones that relate to the pilot, the city funding under the pilot, or who have engaged with me as recruitment coordinator,” Van Parys noted.

In addition to incentives, the pilot project’s other activities included working with the Peterborough Family Doctors’ Think Tank on recommendations for physician recruitment and retention, and joining the Eastern Ontario Physicians Recruitment Alliance (EOPRA) to obtain access to software for job postings and candidate tracking.

Representing Peterborough, Van Parys will be joining other physician recruiters from across Ontario at a job fair hosted by the Ontario Physicians Recruitment Alliance in Birmingham, U.K. on May 31, with the intention of attracting general practitioners in the U.K. who want to relocate to Ontario.

Julott said that, in response to the Ontario government’s new $1.8 billion primary care action plan to connect two million more people to a publicly funded family doctor or primary care team within four years, the Peterborough Ontario Health Team has submitted three proposals for provincial funding, which is being allocated based on postal codes with the highest number of unattached patients.

VON’s Keene Health Centre and the Trent Hills Family Health Team have submitted a proposal for four additional nurse practitioners, 3.5 independent health care practitioners, and five additional staff with a target of 3,500 net new attached patients by March 2027.

The Peterborough 360 Degree Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic has submitted a proposal for additional staffing to serve the marginalized population, including a patient system navigator, with a target of 800 net new attached patients by March 2027.

The Peterborough Family Health Team has submitted a “high budget” proposal to maintain its current operations with around 31 additional staff, with a target of serving 8,300 net new attached patients by March 2027.

For the remaining eight months of the pilot project, Julott said work will focus on supporting physician recruitment outside of financial incentives, including “warm welcome” approach and resources for prospective physicians, continuing to work with the Ontario Health Team and County of Peterborough on primary care strategy and report for the region, using social media for advocacy instead of recruitment, and continuing planning work to increase childcare capacity.

With the pilot project ending in December, Julott also said they are looking ahead to the next 10 years, recommending that healthcare recruitment continue to be incorporated in the city’s economic development strategy, including having a physician recruitment coordinator continue as a single point of contact.

Long-term plans would focus less on individual financial incentives and more on expanding infrastructure and environment to attract for new physicians, nurse practitioners, and other health professionals to the community, and to explore opportunities with Trent University, Fleming College, and Queen’s University’s Primary Care Teaching Clinic.

In response to a question from councillor Don Vassiliadis about the impact of the financial incentives, Van Parys said “Lots of communities are offering (financial) incentives, so we’re never going to be the highest, but they definitely helped.”

However, she noted that physicians also look at other factors when deciding to relocate, including whether they can practice their full scope of practice in the community, which may include hospital work.

In response to a question from Vassiliadis about recruiting internationally trained physicians, Van Parys said they have been focusing on Canadian physicians living in the U.S. who want to return to Canada and international physicians living in the U.K., Ireland, and Australia, which are countries whose physicians don’t have to obtain additional credentials to practise in Canada.

Van Parys also said the Peterborough will be pursuing the potential of applying for some of the $300 million in funding from the Ontario government to build up to 17 new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics in communities with high rates of unattachment to primary care.

“Peterborough’s really well set up to get that started, because (the province) want to focus on interdisciplinary care — nurse practitioners and pharmacists and dietitians — as part of the care team that then refers up to the family physician who will be the specialist.”

“They want to put the expertise of the family physician at the head of those teams, with all of the people (in the team) practising up to their scope of their practice, and Peterborough is really well-suited to have a teaching clinic that covers all those professions.”

Councillor Keith Riel compared Peterborough’s physician recruitment efforts with the City of Belleville’s, which has recruited 15 new physicians in the past two years.

Julott noted that Belleville has higher financial incentives, and Van Parys added that those numbers are not always net new physicians, but also include the replacement of retiring physicians.

PDF: Physician Recruitment Update – May 12, 2025
Physician Recruitment Update - May 12, 2025

Speaking to financial incentives, Mayor Jeff Leal suggested “We may want to bust the myth about these incentives,” noting that a lot of communities that provide five-year incentives to physicians see those physicians depart the community after five years.

“The physician will sign an agreement saying they promise to practise for the length of the contract, usually three to five years,” Van Parys said in response to the mayor’s comment. “In the case of Belleville, they’ve used the return of service agreements frequently, but then they have a large number of physicians leave at the same time.”

“We really want to try to get physicians who are here for the long term, because it’s almost harder to have someone come short term and then leave,” she added, giving the example of a local physician who had rostered 2,000 patients and then left for another community that offered a larger financial incentive.

Mayor Leal noted there is a group of Ontario mayors pressing the province to get rid of financial incentives because they believe they are inconsistent with the anti-bonusing provisions of the Municipal Act.

Councillor Gary Baldwin asked Van Parys about the large number of patients being served by the physician at Northcrest Pharmasave Pharmacy’s medical clinic. She said that he is working on a fee-for-service basis, rather than being paid for the number of rostered patients in the family health team model, which means he can see a higher number of patients.

In the family health team model, she explained, part-time physicians would roster 650 to 1,200 patients, with full-time physicians in practice for five years rostering around 1,800 patients. Some veteran family physicians whose practice has grown over the years can roster 2,000 to 2,200 patients, she added.

After the presentation, councillor Alex Bierk moved an amendment to the report of the presentation that would direct city staff to investigate the current trend of U.S. physicians relocating to Canada because of the political climate under the Trump administration, assess the feasibility of developing a local strategy to attract U.S. trained physicians to Peterborough, and to report back to council with findings and recommendations for potential actions.

Although some councillors questioned the necessity of including the amendment and whether this should be be a federal or provincial initiative, councillors voted 7-4 to support the amendment, with Crowley, Vassiliadis, Duguay, and Baldwin voting against it. Council then voted unanimously to accept the update report with Bierk’s amendment.

Four Counties Addiction Services Team (Fourcast) is embarking on its next step towards ultimately helping men with addictions by offering live-in treatment services in Peterborough.

Fourcast has launched a recruitment campaign to hire key staff for its new bed-based treatment program serving Peterborough and area.

Having recently completed the renovation of the historic Paddock Wood residence, Fourcast is preparing for the new services that will be housed at the site, which is located in the northeast end of Peterborough.

This stage is a key step forward towards the next phase of addictions treatment for both Fourcast and residents in need of support.

“Any progress on this project is exciting as it gets us closer to opening our programs for admissions,” Donna Rogers, Fourcast’s executive director, told kawarthaNOW.

“The renovation phase has been fairly complex as it involves all of the behind-the-scenes pieces like zoning, drawings, permitting, inspections, securing capital and health ministry permissions, et cetera. We now have a building that is safe and purpose-renovated for our clients and staff. Finishing this phase allows us to move to more program-related activities,” Rogers said.

Fourcast is recruiting staff members for a six-unit withdrawal management program and a six-bed residential treatment program. It’s hard to predict when those programs will open, but Fourcast is feeling positive the agency will attract the people it needs to run a 24/7 program, Rogers said.

“We are hoping to generate a lot of interest through our media partners to increase our recruitment reach. Following this recruitment phase, we will be in a better position to understand our staffing status. We are optimistic that we will have a great response to our postings.”

Fourcast will be recruiting a full complement of staff to run the “highly anticipated” residential programs, which include a 35-day residential addiction treatment program and the withdrawal management program. Developed over the past two years, the programs will align with current best practices for addiction treatment and withdrawal management and will allow Fourcast to add “this vital new service to our existing program options,” according to a press release.

“We are committed to having the right people in the right roles so we can ensure that we are offering the highest quality programming and meeting the highest standards of care to those receiving our services. Fourcast’s new programs will require a team of highly trained professionals to operate services that will see male-identifying participants residing on-site 24 hours a day.”

The agency is hiring people for a wide range of roles, including full-time and part-time staff for day and night shifts in different capacities from addictions and withdrawal management workers to food services and overnight care workers.

“Just as we do for our community-based treatment programs, we place the utmost importance on employing qualified, experienced, and compassionate professionals who will uphold our values in every interaction with our residential clients,” Rogers said.

There is currently no residential addiction treatment program available in the region of Peterborough, causing many people to travel to Oshawa, Kingston, or Barrie to get the help they need. Fourcast said adding local bed-based services will allow the agency to complete the continuum of services from early-access and harm-reduction services to full residential care.

“As we heard from many community service agencies, government partners, and health care partners during the early stages of approving this initiative, Peterborough and its surrounding counties have a critical need for this program as part of the continuum of substance use services,” Rogers said. “By providing 12 new units of bed-based addiction services to the community, we will be able to get people into this intensive level of treatment much more quickly and much closer to home.”

The new programs will be housed in the 160-year-old building, located at 24 Paddock Wood off Armour Road, which was formerly used by the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge.

When asked what would be the best possible outcome for Paddock Wood, Rogers shared, “In a perfect world, we successfully launch the six-unit withdrawal management program and the six-bed residential treatment program and get experience providing these services, and we find future opportunities to expand the program for more beds and create women-specific programs. We plan to dream big for growth.”

Fourcast is posting job opportunities on its website at www.fourcast.ca/about-us/careers and intends to share the news about its need for staff with community partners and on social media.

Fourcast is a community-based addiction treatment provider that has been operating in Peterborough, Northumberland, Haliburton and the City of Kawartha Lakes since 1983. Staff members provide support for people with alcohol, drug, or gambling-related problems through a range of programming options. Fourcast works with its clients with the goal of developing a treatment path that is right for their unique needs.

In addition to individual and group counselling, Fourcast also works in collaboration with community service partners to support people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

“Our focus is on encouraging positive change, and our goal is to support our clients by empowering them to make their own choices in an open, non-judgmental atmosphere,” Fourcast notes in the release.