District Council defers fundraising plan for Fairvern

The plan included $36,000 to consultants to study whether a campaign might work

The District of Muskoka deferred a new motion for Fairvern Long-Term Care fundraising in the April 20, 2026, Council meeting.

The motion passed by the joint Engineering and Public Works and Financial and Corporate Services Committees last month directed staff to focus on the fundraising campaign to “consider reducing the scope of the campaign, and naming rights policy for facilities in Muskoka, and evaluate a long-term campaign strategy for future long-term care home supports.”

In a lengthy discussion on the motion, Council members expressed various concerns, including spending $36,000 on a consultant to determine whether money can be raised, not including Fairvern in ongoing fundraising efforts, and paying a third-party consultant 13% of fundraising dollars raised (or $96,000) to raise $3 million.

Staff indicated that what they took from the committee meeting was “we’re thinking about the future, so develop the policy work related to future Muskoka projects.” They added that the discussion was “let’s not do it for this one. Let’s focus on the future.”

However, Council members expressed the importance of the impact on Fairvern to the community and of continuing with the current momentum for raising funds for the facility. 

Councillor, Nancy Alcock, advocated about continuing the path for Fairvern and other facilities in the region. She said, “I just didn’t want the window shut on an existing facility that happens to be brand new. I don’t think it should be shut. It’s a facility in Muskoka.”

Councillor, Scott Morrison, expressed concerns about the cost involved in using a consultant for future fundraising strategies because of the amount of money that leaves the community. He said, “So, I’m definitely not a fan of using a consultant from outside to raise the money.”

He added that it would be more cost-effective to create a fundraising strategy in-house. He said, "We can accomplish all of what we want to accomplish without paying an outside company $400,000. I can’t support anything that pays $400,000 that leaves the community.”

Other concerns involved a timeline for fundraising efforts for the facility if they moved ahead with it, with Councillor, Don Smith, expressing the importance of maintaining the current momentum.

Smith said, “There is momentum that is in place right now and there is interest in the project, and the longer that we wait that momentum would be lost, and the interest in the project will be lost.”

Councillor, Heidi Lorenz, indicated that the timeline to create a fundraising strategy is not realistic. She said, “I think it’s a little crazy to be asking staff to come up with a $4 million fundraising campaign on the policy to start by the end of 2026.”

She added that suggestions about Council members being on the fundraising board is also unrealistic. “I can’t see that it’s in good faith that Councillors are going - you know - asking people for money. I certainly am not going to be comfortable doing that.”

After a lengthy debate, Council agreed to defer the new motion.

Instead, they removed the staff direction to seek a third-party consultant from the original motion and replaced it with developing a “campaign implementation strategy for potential launch in 2027,” which includes a structure for governance, leadership model, staff resources, timeline, naming framework, and budget implications.

Staff will report back to Committee with the proposed new strategy and requirements prior to implementing a fundraising campaign.