Upgrades to 12 snowmobiling trails across Northern Ontario are on the way after the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) provided $553,000 in funding to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. Areas that will receive funding include Sudbury, North Bay, Thunder Bay, and communities along the shore of Lake Superior.
“The cottage and snowmobiling industries are largely connected,” says Ryan Eickmeier, the CEO of the OFSC. “We sell the majority of our permits in southern Ontario, but those permit buyers travel—they become tourists in their own province.”
Permit sales are key to maintaining clubs and trails. As snowmobile clubs across the province are volunteer-run, profits are redirected back into Ontario snowmobilers. But beyond ground maintenance, says Laurie Marcil, the executive director of Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario and a NOHFC board member, snowmobilers help keep the economy strong in Northern Ontario cottage regions.
“It helps for quality of life in Northern Ontario,” she says. “Having people come to your town by trail or to stay overnight means they spend their money in town, which goes back into the community.”
At its core, it is community that keeps the Ontario snowmobiling industry running.
“What’s really great about the organization is how the clubs work together,” says Eickmeier. “They will support their neighbouring clubs and communities because they recognize that a trail in isolation is less significant than an entire network that connects one corner of the province to another.”
The OFSC oversees more than 30,000 kilometres of trails throughout the province. Of these routes, 14,000 km run through Northern Ontario, which is made possible by landowners volunteering their property.
“We’re successful because we have so many private landowners that allow us to cross their land, and larger public or private entities that we have come to provincial agreements with,” says Eickmeier. “Trails change because land use permission fluctuates every year. But every year, landowners step up to allow us to sustain trail networks. It’s so incredibly important.”
Several of the planned upgrades are already underway with hopes of being completed before winter signals the start of next snowmobiling season. For a full list of the 12 trails bring upgraded, visit the NOHFC website.
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