William Dale
Published online May 20, 2026, at www.pontiacjournal.com.
CAMPBELL’S BAY – The Municipality of Campbell’s Bay has been named one of eight recipients in the Outaouais region for the first phase of the Free Play Fund, a national initiative aimed at encouraging children to spend more time outdoors.
The program, managed locally by the Fondation Philanthropie Outaouais (FPO), was established in partnership with the Waltons Trust, the Lawson Foundation and Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. It aims to bring unstructured outdoor play back into children’s lives through activities such as climbing trees, jumping in puddles and exploring nature.
The FPO received $473,000 to distribute across the region and selected eight organizations from a pool of 32 applicants. FPO president Rock Poulin said balanced representation among the region’s MRCs was important to ensure a broad regional impact.
Campbell’s Bay is the only recipient in the MRC Pontiac for this phase of the funding. Other recipients include CPE La Bottine in Maniwaki, the Municipality of Chelsea and Chelsea Cooperative Nursery School, Carrefour familial Papineau, and the Centre d’animation familiale de l’Outaouais, Maison de l’Amitié de Hull and Partenaires du Secteur Aylmer in Gatineau.
While the successful recipients have been announced, residents of Campbell’s Bay will have to wait a bit longer for details about the local project.
The municipality is awaiting the final signing of the funding agreement. Local officials said they are excited about the project but must first review communication and visibility requirements before releasing more information.
“The Municipality is very excited about this project and looks forward to sharing more details very soon,” the municipality stated in an update. A formal announcement is expected once the agreement process is finalized.