Paddle the Don slated for Sunday.
A pair of kayakers make their way down the Don River during the Paddle The Don event last year. Six hundred urban voyagers take part in the paddling adventure from North York to Lake Ontario along the Don River on Sunday, May 1 of this year.
File Photo/BRENT LEWIN
This weekend the Don River will return to its roots as a busy waterway filled with canoes.
The 18th annual Manulife Paddle the Don event takes place Sunday, May 1 with more than 600 registered paddlers, including public officials and 21 corporate teams, taking part.
Once a year, Toronto and Region Conservation provides a unique opportunity for people to navigate 10.5 kilometres of Toronto's urban river. The event gives people the chance to paddle the Don River from Ernest Thompson Seton Park in North York to the mouth at the Keating Channel.
The event is about enjoying nature, having fun and raising awareness about the importance of healthy rivers in Toronto. It also raises funds to support regeneration projects on the Don watershed.
The event is free, but paddlers are encouraged to collect donations to regenerate the Don.
Since the pledge program began in 2002, participants have raised more than $300,000 to help fund regeneration projects in the Don watershed.
The first launch takes off from Ernest Thompson Seton Park at 8:30 a.m. Paddlers should begin arriving at the take-out site, located in the parkette on the northwest corner of Villiers Street and Don Roadway, at 10:30 a.m.
The last canoe launch will take place at 12:30 p.m.