Ottawa Outdoor Gear Library - OOGL

Join us for an outdoor screening and discussion of the 2026 documentary film Out on the Water!

Both Demiesha Dennis (Brown Girl Outdoor World Adventure|Travel|Community) and Ren Navarro (Ren Navarro | HR consulting | DEI education | Drinks expert) - featured community members in the film, will be in attendence. We will begin the evening with a discussion of the film, Dennis and Navarro’s experiences in finding community outdoors, and their relationships with the land and water as Black q***r folks living on Turtle Island (and maybe they’ll share a thing or two about fly fishing too).

This is a free, all ages event. Popcorn and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. Limited seating available, bring your own blanket or camp chair to be safe.

Please register via eventbrite at the link in our bio.

Thank you to Ontario Trillium Foundation for your support through your Seed Grant, which helps us make programs such as these possible. And a huge thank you to Courtney for connecting us with the filmmakers and all of your help behind the scenes!

this past weekend we provided gear support to Rain Reigns for their Wild & Q***r Weekend Summer Camp, where 35 newcomer q***r Africans had the chance to unplug and experience the mental, physical, and communal health benefits of connecting with nature.

we’re so grateful to have our M(obile)OOGL which allows us to bring gear to our partners when transportation is a barrier. thank you again to Ontario Trillium Foundation for the capital grant that funded this purchase!

this trip happened to coincide with CPRA - ACPL’s inaugural initiative! visit their page to learn more.

thank you to our volunteers joseph, judy, and chris who helped staff with packing and transporting all this gear!

while this weekend was beautiful in ottawa and the nearby quebec region, we can’t help but think of the land and those affected by the ongoing forest fires taking place across ontario and across canada. most of those affected are First Nations communities, including Namaygoosisagun and Whitewater Lake First Nations, whose homes have been completely destroyed in the fires. this is a reminder that we are not far from climate catastrophe, in fact, it is right in our backyard, in our air, our lakes, and our forests.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our annual Open House & Gear Grab this past Sunday, June 7th! With your donations we were able to raise $837! If you want to help us get to $1000, you can send your donations to [email protected] or bring cash with you in person when you pick up/return your gear. All donations directly support the operation of OOGL and our programming efforts.

This was one of our favourite events to date. We celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being open at the Bronson Centre, and we will be celebrating 5 years of operation on June 17th!

Special thanks to our dj’s la role model🦋🧸, RHOZE ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ❀, and Tishe who came thru representing Pass the Vibes Collective and played from our MOOGL! Thank you as well to our board members Malak and Sam, and one of our OG volunteers Piper for baking and setting up our delicious table of treats. Thank you to all of our new volunteers who showed up and helped make this possible; events such as these wouldn’t be possible without you.

Lastly, thank you to Ontario Trillium Foundation for your support through this year’s Seed Grant. This funding will support the work of our current staff members and the facilitation of community-based, culturally relevant programming in the coming months.

Join us THIS Sunday, June 7th for our annual Open House and Gear Grab Fundraiser!!

Our Open House will feature:
✅ An opportunity to tour our summer seasonal space and check out our updated inventory
✅ Meet dedicated OOGL staff, volunteers & board members
✅ Learn about our programs, services & how to get involved
✅ Learn more about our equity-focused mission to break down barriers to outdoor experiences!

Come to our Gear Grab Fundraiser to:
✅ Browse gently used gear
✅ Help us clear out our overstock
✅ Help us raise funds to support our organization!
(Some items will have a suggested donation price, but otherwise it is a pay-what-you-can sale. We will be taking cash and e-transfer)

Please note the parking lot of the Bronson Centre is paid parking via Indigo and there are limited street parking spots. We encourage folks to use more sustainable options for travel including walking, biking, or taking public transit if you are able.

Please share widely and bring a friend!! We look forward to meeting you and sharing some light treats with our OOGL community 🏕️

Very proud to have launched our brand new Huckleberry Hiker Cascade Cart at the OIPSE/Adapt Expo on May 9th!

The Cascade Cart works across a multitude of terrain, and aids in accessibility along trails by replacing the need for a wheelchair. It is designed to accommodate a wide range of Sherpa (the person pulling the cart) and Passenger body types. The maximum passenger weight is 150 lbs and Huckleberry Hiking recommends a Sherpa height of 5’ to 6’ 8”, and a Passenger height of 3’ to 5’ 6”.

You can learn more about the Cascade Hiking Cart with a quick internet search, or come by OOGL to see it in person. Send us an email ahead of time if you plan to reserve it/want to give it a look as it is not in our inventory system yet.

Thank you to for the donation of the hiker to OOGL, and thank you to Emily Glossop and the rest of the team for inviting us to participate in the Expo!

Looking for more resources on adaptive gear and accessible programming? Check out !

We were happy to attend MEC Ottawa’s Gear Swap & Demo event on May 2nd. Pictured here is Malak, who joined OOGL’s Board of Directors this last year.

Malak and Chris had some really great convos at MEC. Thank you to Nancy and Jennifer from Ottawa for inviting us!

Let us know if you saw us or spoke with us in the comments!

The Ottawa Outdoor Gear Library (OOGL) is looking for an outdoor enthusiast to lead our volunteer team in volunteer engagement! As a small volunteer-run organization, volunteers are integral to our structure. We aim to improve our volunteer organization and management systems to better support the operations of the Gear Library.

Please note, this is an unpaid, volunteer position.

Apply at the link in bio!

Questions? Email [email protected]

Happy belated Earth Day!! This weekend two of our board members, Chris and Chahneet, took part in and ’s 2026 Earth Day Festival 🌿

Thank you to everyone who came by our table to chat, including .l.armstrong from Arc’teryx, it was great to meet you!

While the weather was beautiful here on Saturday, we couldn’t help but think of the ongoing destruction to the planet by way of mass over-consumption, capitalism, environmental racism, and multiple ongoing genocides and ecocides - remember folks, it is all connected! Earth day is not just a day to celebrate the Land and be outdoors, it is also a day to reaffirm our commitment to environmental justice, Land Back, and community solidarity!

Find the full list of participants from the festival at centretowncitizens.ca/events/earth-day-festival-2026 and get connected!

We are currently in the thick of our seasonal gear change over! That means Winter gear is being swapped for the Spring/Summer/Fall gear you know and love.

We’ve decided to close down to help us get organized, but we’ll be back open for loans starting May 5th (ps. we’ll probably still be organizing at that point, but don’t want to keep you waiting any longer). See you then!

In 2024, OOGL was awarded a grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (). The “Healthy Canadians and Communities” fund allowed us to conduct a research project focused on evaluating OOGL’s impact on communities in the National Capital Region and the outdoor health behaviours of our members. It also allowed us to hire a full-time staff member to lead the project — Tianna (they/them)!

After two fantastic years, marked by significant growth for OOGL, this project has officially come to an end. Thanks to the funding from PHAC, we’ve been able to offer and support several community programs, engage more deeply with our partners and users, and ultimately strengthen the case for the value and importance of our work through evidence-based research.

The conclusion of this project also means we’re saying goodbye to our staff member, Tianna. Tianna has been an enthusiastic and creative addition to our team at OOGL, leading initiatives such as: Fat Hikers’ Club, BIPOC Intro to Paddle Boarding (w/ ), BIPOC Intro to Tennis (w/ + ), revamping our website, and the emergency fundraising campaign to rehome our organization. Tianna is deeply committed to outdoor accessibility and fun — we will miss them terribly!

Stay tuned for the public release of our impact evaluation report! Our sincerest thank you to PHAC (), Tianna, and our community that made this project possible. 💚