Partnerships at the core of successful Town of Ajax wetland restoration projects

With the Kerrison Road Wetland Restoration Project finished and Kingston Road Wetland Restoration Project set to be completed by the end of 2025, the area north of Highway 401 near Kingston Road has been revitalized as a space for fish, waterfowl, amphibians, turtles and of course, plenty of plant varieties. What used to be called “100-year storms” (defined as a rainfall event that statistically should only have one per cent chance of occurring in any given year, at any given place) are smashing their timeframe. The projects have also added what is essentially a hectares-long sponge to the area that promises to help slow potential damage from excess rainfall. 

Enter the wetland restoration experts 

Of course, wetland restoration requires expertise, money and planning. In this case, all three came through the power of partnership. When the Town of Ajax’s Cameron Richardson, supervisor of Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Planning and Development Services, realized the area’s potential, he called on John Stille, senior manager of Restoration Projects at Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), to assess the site. TRCA oversees nine watersheds from Ajax to Mississauga, including Carruthers Creek where the Ajax land sits. In turn, TRCA brought on Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), a frequent partner on wetland projects, valued for their expertise and funding contributions.  

Since each site is unique, experts at TRCA and DUC began with a detailed survey to assess the possibilities. With 17 years of experience in developing wetlands, Craig Berga, DUC’s head of Conservation Programs in Ontario, says “each project is like a blank canvas. If someone has a property, we say, ‘what can we do’ and we find the right balance.”  

In Ajax, the projects involved expanding existing marsh and swamp wetlands and reconfiguring two decommissioned old farm ponds (including moving the fish stock from one back into the watercourse and dismantling tile drainage. “Both of these projects are on old agricultural fields that haven’t been used as fields for a very long time. They’re sitting fallow and regenerating very slowly because they’ve got all these functional impairments, like tile drains and ditches,” explains Stille. While these features were useful for the land’s previous role in agriculture, where farmland benefits from flat land that is properly drained, they hamper the area’s function as a wetland. The project also stabilized stream bank erosion and removed invasive species (a reed grass called Phragmites was prevalent) while introducing native trees and shrubs such as silver maples, shining willow and red osier dogwood. 

In exploring such sites, experts also look for clues of past wetlands that could be brought back. “The water wants to be there. If the tile drain was old and collapsed, then you’ll see a little wet patch. We’re looking at vegetation too, remnant patches of wet vegetation, maybe just cattails, but signs that the site wants to be wet again,” says Stille. 

Assessment also considers how to take advantage of natural water flow and even build new water containers through contouring and excavation. “It starts with determining where the flow is escaping the property, where we can hold water back. And if there aren’t opportunities, how are we going to create them?” says Berga.  

Big picture focus on wildlife and urban factors

With over 70 per cent of wetlands already lost in developed areas of Ontario, the most significant impact is on wildlife habitat. However, urban areas are increasingly affected, as water has fewer places to go—a reality many GTA residents have likely observed through news coverage of flooding along Toronto’s Don River. This is where DUC’s Berga says that wetland creation can help, by absorbing this extra water and releasing it slowly. “When you get a big rain event, that wetland stores all that water for a period of time and then allows it to be released gradually as it infiltrates back into the area.” 

Another ray of sunshine? Wetlands are quick to return once the conditions are right. “Within a year you’ll get amphibians and waterfowl coming back,” says Stille. “Wetlands want to be wetlands and so you see benefits right away.” TRCA monitors restoration sites for five years, returning to ensure projects are on track. “We go back in year one, three and five, identify how things are performing from a vegetation, or even from a wetland standpoint: is it holding the water we want it to hold? Are we seeing the species that we want to see? If there are any deficiencies, we adaptively manage for that,” says Stille.  

Back in Ajax, the work came together quickly once the plan was set, with the initial phase completed in six to nine months. Besides planning and design, TRCA organizes construction and planting teams, overseeing the projects. Meanwhile, Richardson and his small team of three at the Town of Ajax managed the project municipally. “It’s a real team effort across departments, starting at Council with the approval of budgets,” says Richardson.  

Rewarded and ready to go again

By far the biggest restoration project that the Town of Ajax has ever undertaken, the project was already approved in principle as part of the Carruthers Creek Watershed Management Plan, but with limited funding available in the Ajax capital budget, the biggest challenge was to first understand the true costs for the project (the total was in the range of $1.6 million) and then secure funding, which came from the Province of Ontario’s Wetlands Conservation Partner Program and DUC through the Nature Force climate resilience initiative. Richardson sees these wetland restoration projects as both a success and a learning experience and is now enthusiastic to keep going: his sights are set already on another wetland restoration for a former golf course.  

Stille is also enthusiastic about the scale and scope of these projects. “What we’re doing is ambitious, but we’re achieving it. I think this year was such a great year for wetland deliverables. We were successful at getting big gains in a short amount of time and that couldn’t have been achieved without multi-agency support and partnerships,” he says. 

Berga says DUC is also enthusiastic to join in wherever and whenever their expertise is useful, whether it be for municipalities or even private homeowners. “When it comes to conservation of wetlands, working together in these collaborative partnerships makes it easier to find win-win solutions for wildlife and communities” 

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in the March/April 2025 edition of Water Canada Magazine.