Men’s Sheds Ontario (MSO) is a provincial association that supports Men’s Sheds across the province, giving Sheds a space to share experiences and helping them leverage support from one another. HelpAge Canada had the privilege of speaking with Men’s Sheds Ontario’s Outreach Coordinator, Nick Fry, and their Operations Team Leader, John Peters, about their personal experiences with Men’s Sheds and how Sheds are transforming men’s lives.

John’s involvement with Men’s Sheds started with an epiphany: “I was at a men’s breakfast at a church group, and I suddenly realized there that some need within me was being met that I didn’t even know was a need until I was there with others, and I thought “I’m going to go home and start a group for men in my local church!”” He was in luck – there was already an established space for men in his town that he could dive into: The Carleton Place Men’s Shed.

After years with the Carleton Place Men’s Shed, John connected with another local Shed, in Almonte – just 15 minutes away. He recognized that both Sheds shared a similar challenge: the cost of insurance for a Shed is high, so he proposed that the two Sheds enroll in group insurance to maximize their savings. This small change led to another epiphany: when Sheds connect, they can do a lot more with less, leveraging shared resources and knowledge so that Sheds can thrive together. Imagine if Sheds could connect like that across the entire province! This experience helped John to realize the need for a provincial Men’s Sheds association, and he quickly took on a leadership role: “Nobody else was offering to start an association. I had no reason to think I was capable of doing it, but someone needed to start, and so I did.”

Men Shed’s Ontario supports men across Ontario with starting and maintaining their Men’s Sheds. In Nick’s words, their mission is to “make sure that men have something purposeful to do, someone to talk to, and somewhere to go.” He also spoke on the importance of having younger men involved in Men’s Sheds. When older and younger men participate in a Shed, there’s an exchange of old skills and new skills — it’s not a one-way street. Younger members bring fresh perspectives and are more likely to be technologically savvy, while older members have a breadth of knowledge and skills that may not be widely taught anymore. When asked if there was one memory of a Shed that stands out to Nick, the Bruce Peninsula’s Men’s Shed came to mind. Specifically, a cardboard boat race the Shed took part in at the 2023 Chi-Cheemaun Festival in Tobermory that brought their Shed to local fame.

“Everybody in town watched their boat go down in the water. Their Shed logo was right there on the front of the boat, and then next thing you know, people are calling up and asking how they can join the Men’s Shed.”

Men’s Sheds Ontario continues to foster camaraderie, skill-sharing, and mutual support between Sheds across the province. Their work doesn’t just help Sheds, but men all over Ontario, because when a community has a Shed with the support it needs to succeed, men have someone to talk to, somewhere to go, and something fantastic to do.