Shoreline restoration on Pigeon Lake, from Bobcaygeon to Ennismore

Yes. Parks Canada administers the lake bed and requires a Trent-Severn permit for shoreline stabilization, and Kawartha Conservation or Otonabee Conservation regulates the bank under O. Reg. 41/24, depending on which shore you are on. We prepare and file both applications.

Kawartha Conservation covers the City of Kawartha Lakes shore and Trent Lakes properties in the former Harvey township. Otonabee Conservation regulates part of the east shore, and its regulated-area maps can be searched by address. We confirm which office covers your lot before we draw the permit plans.

Each municipality runs its own process. The City of Kawartha Lakes charges $9.00 per sq ft on lakes and estimates 12 to 18 months. Trent Lakes sells its 66-foot allowance at $7.50 per m² plus a $1,500 fee. Selwyn's minimum is $2,500 for up to 100 ft. We mark the allowance on the permit site plan.

On the Kawartha lakes, almost always two. Parks Canada permits all work on the bed and waters of the Trent-Severn lakes, including shoreline stabilization, and the conservation authority permits work in its regulated area along the shore. We prepare and file both.

Kawartha Conservation's published guidance steers away from hardened shorelines, meaning retaining walls, sheet piles and armour stone at the water's edge. What it recommends is river rock in mixed sizes on a 3:1 slope along the natural contour, native plants and a no-mow buffer. We design to that, and put armour stone where it earns its place: steps, seating walls and terraces up the bank.

On lakes that hold walleye and bass, which is most of the Kawarthas, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's timing window keeps in-water work off-limits from March 15 to July 15 while fish spawn. Parks Canada permits are valid for one year, so we file in fall or winter and schedule the build for the open window.

Kawartha Conservation publishes its timelines: a streamlined permit is checked for completeness in 10 days and issued within 14 more, a standard minor permit in 14 plus 21 days. Parks Canada asks for applications several months before the start date. That is why fall is the time to start.

Yes. Removing a failed timber, concrete or stone wall is shoreline work too, so it goes through the same permits, and the bank is re-sloped and planted where the wall stood.

By the length of frontage, the slope, how machines and stone get to the water, and what the permits require. You get a written price after the site visit, with the permit work priced in the same quote.