Bruce Trail Conservancy celebrates the life and mourns the passing of its last living co-founder, Dr. Philip Gosling
Bruce Trail Conservancy celebrates the life and mourns the passing of its last living co-founder, Dr. Philip Gosling
It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Dr. Philip R. Gosling, Honourary President of the Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) and last living co-founder of the Bruce Trail, has passed away at the age of 97.
Philip was the original trailblazer, a visionary with a goal over 900 kilometres long. In the early 1960s, his determination to secure the Bruce Trail took him door to door along the Niagara Escarpment, meeting with the first landowners to graciously allow the Trail to cross their properties. His efforts were instrumental, gradually piecing together the passages that would eventually become Canada’s oldest and longest marked footpath.
Philip and his co-founders believed that if people had a way to connect with nature along the Niagara Escarpment, they would fall in love with it and work to protect it. They were right. Today, the Bruce Trail Conservancy is one of Canada’s most active land trusts caring for more than 15,000 acres of sensitive Niagara Escarpment lands. With the support of expert staff, generous donors, dedicated members, gracious landowners, and the unwavering commitment of over 1,500 volunteers, the Bruce Trail has become more than a world-class hiking experience, it is a remarkable example of the outsized conservation outcomes that are possible when a community is created around time in nature.
“The Bruce Trail Conservancy has truly realized the vision we set out so long ago,” Philip said in a message to BTC members for the 2025 Annual General Meeting. “I am very happy and proud of its incredible success.”
Philip’s legacy of nature conservation extends beyond our ribbon of wilderness. He created the Gosling Research Institute for Plant Preservation (GRIPP) at the University of Guelph, which aims to preserve endangered plant biodiversity through research, education, and service programs. In 2013, Philip was awarded the Order of Canada for his crucial contributions to the creation of the Bruce Trail and for his philanthropic devotion to the natural world.
Our deepest condolences are shared with his beloved family and friends, the many volunteers and members whose lives he touched, and all who have been inspired by his indelible impact on nature in Ontario. It is a legacy that the Bruce Trail Conservancy is honoured to carry on together with our community of volunteers, donors, members, landowners, and partners.
