By Thomas Goyer
Snowmobiling is making a positive economic impact on the winter economy in Muskoka, according to Muskoka Lakes Snow Trails Association.
In a report to the Engineering and Public Works Committee on January 17, a presentation was made on behalf of the Muskoka Lakes Snow Trails Association (MLSTA). The presentation detailed the economic impact of snowmobiling on winter tourism, the winter economy and what supports the MLSTA needs from the District.
The report was made by Steve Elliot, president of the MLSTA, wherein he stated that snowmobiling generated $1.6 billion in economic gains across Ontario and $126 million in Muskoka alone. This economic activity directly led to over 400 jobs within Muskoka related to snowmobiling.
Presently snowmobile riders pay a $200 yearly permit to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) which trickles down to local snowmobile clubs like the MLSTA. This money helps to pay for groomers, fuel and salaries. However, this money is insufficient to cover all costs and any remaining expenses are covered by the MLSTA.
To meet these costs, the MLSTA negotiates sponsorships and fundraisers with local businesses. For sponsorships, affiliated businesses give an annual $500 donation. In exchange the MLSTA advertises these businesses throughout their trail network. Fundraising examples include bottle drives, barbeques, etc.
According to Elliot, this advertising is effective in directing riders to these businesses.
“If you go by those places on a weekend they are packed with snowmobiles, packed with activity,” Elliot said.
Muskoka Lakes Mayor Peter Kelley seconded the positive economic impact that snowmobiling brings to local businesses.
“Sledding has a huge impact. Not just on economic activity. A lot of those restaurants and business locations that were on the list, I humbly submit wouldn’t be open but for the business that’s being driven throughout the winter. And by not open I mean, they would be open seasonally not open year-round,” Kelley said.
Kelley went on to say that he supported providing greater resources and support to the MLSTA.
“It gets people outside in all sorts of weather and so we fully support this at the Township and certainly I personally will make sure we get whatever we need in terms of resources available to make sure we can find a happy place to move forward with this group,” Kelley said.
Elliot was before the committee in the hopes of securing further cooperation between the MLSTA and the District and support in developing a permanent base of operations. Elliot stated that the MLSTA has applied for the Ontario Trillium Fund Capital Grant. If approved the club could receive $150,000. However, to qualify for the application a minimum five-year lease is required. Elliot said that in conversations with the Trillium Fund, a letter from the District stating that the club is in good standing may also help the MLSTA qualify. The deadline for the grant application is March 6.
District Chair Jeff Lehman spoke in support of assisting the MLSTA in its Trillium Fund application.
“My thought would be if there’s a funding application that can help an organization that brings a lot of tourism activity to Muskoka. We want to try and assist them to be able to apply for it,” Lehman said.
The committee was supportive of the requests from Elliot and staff will continue to discuss with Elliot how to assist with the Trillium Fund and ways to support the club’s activities.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
Patrick Flanagan says
I was intrigued by the claim that snowmobiling generates $1.6 billion in economic gains across Ontario and $126 million in Muskoka alone. So I did a reasonableness check.
According to the website statista.com, there were about 155,000 snowmobiles registered in Ontario in 2018, the latest year for which information is available. Let’s assume that the number has grown to 160,000 now. Dividing $1.6 billion by 160,000, we get $10,000 in economic gains per snowmobiler in Ontario. Is that number realistic? If so, snowmobiling strikes me as an expensive hobby.
Turning the numbers around, if the economic gain in Muskoka alone is $126 million, and if the average is $10,000 per snowmobiler, that means there must be 12,600 snowmobilers in Muskoka. Are there really that many? Where do we put them all?
There have been suggestions that some organizations inflate their economic impact for political reasons, for example, to bolster their case for a government handout. Let’s hope that is not the case here.
Chas Clark says
Hi Patrick, fyi this economic data comes from and is published by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and not from the OFSC.
Patrick Flanagan says
Mr. Clark, it would have been helpful if you had said where the data that you attribute to the Ministry of Tourism can be found. I could not find it on their website. However, I did find a report entitled Economic Impact of Snowmobile Trails in Ontario 2023 that was prepared for and published on the website of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. The numbers in it for Ontario as a whole are similar, but not identical, to those in the Doppler article. But for Muskoka, the purported economic impact is the same $126 million.
Having found the report, I searched for evidence to contradict my initial gut feeling that the purported economic gain was ridiculously overstated.
Table 55 on page 51 provides a breakdown of the $126 million for Muskoka into various categories. It can be summarized as:
$2 million for accommodation
$4 million for food, beverage, recreation and entertainment
$8 million for retail – clothing
$8 million for retail – other
$ 7 million for travel service
$97 million for private transportation
The first two categories bring a combined $6 million into the local economy. It is reasonable to accept that the $6 million would not be spent in Muskoka if there were no snowmobilers. But compared to the amounts spent for accommodation, food, etc., it is hard to accept that the economic gain for Muskoka could be as high as $8 million for clothing and another $8 for other retail expenditures.
The report does not explain what is included in the $7 million for travel service.
The $97 million private transportation category is almost all “operation” (it includes about $28,000 for “rental”). Just what “private travel – operation” includes, and how it would benefit the businesses and workers of Muskoka, is not explained, although there was a footnote on page 33 to say that “Towing truck purchases were included at 25% of the reported cost for 2022-2023 to maintain a modest estimate given trucks will be multi-purpose.”
Since the last two categories account for over 80% of the total, it would have been helpful if they were described in more detail. That would allow readers to assess for themselves whether or not to give any credibility to the report’s claims. Do they include every expenditure that has even the most remote connection to snowmobiling, or even the most remote connection to Muskoka? Without that knowledge, one might guess that the real economic gain for Muskoka is closer to $10 million than to $126 million.
The snowmobile interest group wants to maximize its economic importance, not only to make it easier to get government handouts, but also to counter those who oppose snowmobiles for various reasons. Fortunately for them, the media did not question their exaggerated claim, but instead put it in the headlines.