The Philippe Lake campground is an important attraction in Gatineau Park’s northern sector. It was built in the late 1950s and, apart from undergoing a few renovations, the campground facilities had become quite dated.
This project will help modernize the campsite in order to reduce its overall environmental impact and improve the visitor experience through the construction of a new day shelter, new ready-to-camp units, and a new waterfront amphitheatre, among other things.
The latest on the project
Most of the work was completed by mid-December 2025. For the winter camping season, 10 new ready-to-camp, mini-chalet-style homes have been added. Each unit has a separate bedroom, a living room with couch and chairs, and comes equipped with electricity for added convenience.
Improvements to the site include:
- a new day shelter (Philippe Lake Shelter);
- improved signage;
- better access to electricity and drinking water.
More new facilities will be opened for the 2026 summer camping season, including:
- a waterfront amphitheatre with views of the lake;
- a kitchen shelter;
- a convenience store;
- tent pads at tent sites.
Some minor landscaping work is planned for spring 2026.
The Philippe Lake campground rehabilitation project has a forecasted cost of $29.7M. Some of the funding comes from $228.6M in federal funding the NCC received between 2018 and 2023 for critical repairs of high-impact and high-value assets.