Help Save Petrie Island Canoe Club

Petrie Island Canoe Club is at risk of closing, and we need our community’s help.

We are raising $78,000 to cover one year of the additional operating costs created by our new boathouse. Reaching that goal will allow the club to continue operating through 2027 without taking on more debt while we work toward a long-term solution with the City of Ottawa.

Located at Petrie Island in Orléans, our volunteer-run, not-for-profit club gives children, youth, adults and seniors the opportunity to learn, train, compete and enjoy paddling on the Ottawa River. We also support para-athletes and Special Olympics athletes and provide coaching, mentorship and employment opportunities for local youth.

Our goal has always been simple: make paddling accessible and create a place where everyone can belong.

Why We Need Help

For years, the club stored its boats in shipping containers. To create a safer and more permanent home, we undertook the construction of a new boathouse.

The project took much longer than expected and ultimately cost about three times the original estimate.

Owning the new building also added approximately $78,000 in annual costs that the club did not previously have:

$60,000 in loan payments

$13,000 in building insurance

$5,000 in property taxes

After carrying these additional costs for the past three years, the club can no longer continue absorbing them without taking on more debt.

What the $78,000 Will Do

The $78,000 fundraising goal represents one year of boathouse-related operating costs.

Raising that amount before the 2027 season will allow Petrie Island Canoe Club to cover those costs without creating additional debt and keep the club operating for another year.

Most importantly, it gives us time.

The club is working toward a longer-term arrangement with the City of Ottawa that could see the City purchase the boathouse and lease it back to Petrie Island Canoe Club. Discussions are ongoing, and no agreement has yet been reached.

This campaign does not eliminate the club’s existing debt.

It buys us one more year to find a permanent solution.

What Your Donation Helps Protect

Your support helps keep programs running for children, youth, adults, seniors, para-athletes and Special Olympics athletes.

It also helps protect coaching, mentorship and employment opportunities for young people in our community.

For many children, Petrie Island Canoe Club is where they get into a canoe or kayak for the first time. For others, it becomes a place to train, compete, make friends, build confidence and eventually become coaches and mentors themselves.

Our Longer-Term Plan

At the same time as this fundraising campaign, the club is working with the City on the debt already accumulated from carrying the building costs over the past three years and on a permanent solution to the cost of owning the boathouse.

Our goal is to reach an arrangement that allows Petrie Island Canoe Club to remain at Petrie Island without continuing to take on unsustainable building costs.

The $78,000 campaign gives us the time to get there.

Help Us Reach $78,000

Petrie Island Canoe Club has been built through years of volunteer work, fundraising and community support.

We do not want the cost of our permanent home to undo everything our members, families, coaches and volunteers have worked so hard to create.

Every donation, large or small, helps keep the club open for another year and gives us more time to secure its future.

If you are not able to donate, please share this campaign with friends, family, local businesses and community organizations.

Together, we can help keep Petrie Island Canoe Club on the water for years to come.