Watersheds Canada is thrilled that one of their Fish Habitat projects is a finalist for the ‘Conservation: Small Project Award’ category in the 2025 Water Canada Awards. 

This annual award ceremony recognizes people, projects, and technologies that demonstrate a strong commitment to improving the state of Canadian freshwater. Their ‘Conservation: Small Project Award’ category honours small-scale projects that enhance up to 2 hectares of watershed, making Watersheds Canada’s Fish Habitat project a strong match for the nomination. 

The nominated project was a spawning bed restoration that took place on February 6, 2025, at Big Clear Lake, ON. On that day, staff and 16 volunteers distributed 17 tonnes of washed river rock on the ice above a historic walleye spawning bed. This was done so come springtime, the ice melted and the rock fell perfectly into place atop the existing spawning bed. Refreshing the stone on top of a spawning bed creates interstitial spaces which improve the protection and oxygenation of laid eggs. Such changes massively improve the hatching success and overall population stability of sensitive species such as walleye, with benefits for the whole freshwater ecosystem.

Watersheds Canada’s Fish Habitat program partners with communities to deliver research-backed, targeted, and locally-led projects that create real changes for native fish populations. In total, the program has led 68 projects across 44 bodies of water in Central-Eastern Ontario. 

This Watersheds Canada habitat restoration project is nominated for the 2025 Water Canada Award category alongside CLEM’s 2500 Seedling Challenge, and Devlin Rehabilitation Project.