Wasaga Beach
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Wasaga Beach (or simply Wasaga) is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Situated along the longest freshwater beach in the world,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it is a popular summer tourist destination. It is located along the southern end of Georgian Bay, approximately Template:Cvt north of Toronto and about Template:Cvt northwest of Barrie. To the west, Collingwood and The Blue Mountains also attract visitors much of the year. The town is situated along a very long sandy beach<ref name="park"> Template:Cite web</ref> on Nottawasaga Bay in Georgian Bay and the winding Nottawasaga River. The beaches are part of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park; the park area totals 168 hectares (415 acres).<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> Wasaga Beach has a year-round population of 24,862 as of 2021, but during the summer months the population increases with many seasonal residents.
The economy has struggled for some years, particularly since a major fire in late November 2007 destroyed many of the stores. It depends on tourists in an area where the primary shopping season is three to four months per year.<ref name="Brandon">Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2017, the town passed its Downtown Development Master Plan, a 20-year strategy for significant redevelopment of the tourist area and adding a downtown to the business area. The goal is to improve tourism, diversify the economy, and get beyond its "party town" image.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
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Wasaga Beach and the surrounding area was inhabited by the Huron-Wendat Nation for centuries before they were conquered and driven from their ancestral lands in 1649 by the Iroquois Haudenosaunee (Known as the Five Nation Iroquois Confederacy). Wasaga is a contraction of the Algonquin word Nottawasaga. Nottawa means "Iroquois" and saga means "mouth of the river"; the word "Nottawasaga" was used by Algonquin scouts as a warning if they saw Iroquois raiding parties approaching their villages.<ref name="town">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1812 the United States declared war on Great Britain and invaded Upper Canada on several occasions. Wasaga Beach became a strategic location at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River leading to Fort Willow and the Nine Mile Portage which was part of the supply line for British forces in the War of 1812 to Fort Michilimackinac and points to the north and west.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Royal Navy schooner HMS Nancy was scuttled in the Nottawasaga River to prevent the Americans from capturing her and her stores.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Lumbering was the main industry for the remainder of the 19th century. Logs were floated downriver and into the bay, gathered at ports to feed local saw mills.<ref name="town"/>
Because Wasaga Beach had sandy soil unsuitable for cultivation, it did not attract early European settlement. In the 1820s the first sign of settlement in the area began as John Goessman surveyed Flos Township. In 1826, land was being sold for four shillings an acre. Though unsuitable for farming, the Wasaga Beach area had an abundance of trees. In the late 1830s and throughout the rest of the century, the logging industry was key to the economy and integral to development of the area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first permanent settler was John Van Vlack, who arrived in 1869 and founded a settlement on the south side of the Nottawasaga River near its mouth and named it after himself. In 1872, a wooden bridge, the Vanvlack Bridge, was constructed east of the present Main Street bridge to provide access to the beach, then used mainly as a road. The name Wasaga Beach was first used in the area in the late 19th Century.<ref name= "town"/>
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During the 1900s, families began to discover the beauty of the area. The beach gradually became a place for family picnics and holidays during the summer months, and the first cottages were built. In 1909, a new steel bridge was constructed to replace the Vanvlack Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wasaga Beach had its beginning as a major resort area when the first beachfront hotel, The Capstan Inn, was opened in 1915 by entrepreneur John McLean in what would later develop into the present Beach One area. In 1918, he opened the Dardanella Dance Hall, and over the next several decades more hotels, venues, and amusements would open.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the 1940s, servicemen stationed at Base Borden, a nearby military base, visited Wasaga Beach's amusement park (named Playland), and they made Wasaga Beach known across the country. After the war, Wasaga Beach continued to be a popular place for cottagers and day trippers. However, most of the attractions would subsequently close down, with Playland ceasing operations in 1985.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Two water parks, both named Waterworld, opened that year, with Blue Mountain resorts first constructing the Waterslides at beach area 1 with Waterworld taking over. The main park closed at the end of the 2007 summer season whilst the beach area 1 park closed in 2006 and subsequently being demolished due to multiple cost issues, with the location at Beach One converted into a splash pad,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which was itself later closed and turned into a performance space.
Wasaga Beach entered history's headlines in 1934. It was the site of departure for the first overseas flight from mainland Canada across the Atlantic Ocean to England. A plane, named Trail of the Caribou, used the beach as a makeshift runway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The town was originally referred to as "the northern border of Flos Sunnidale and Nottawasaga Townships". The first municipal reference occurred with a designation of a Local Improvement District in 1947. In 1949, Wasaga Beach was classified as a police village in the Township of Sunnidale, and was incorporated as a village in 1951.
In 1959, the beach was designated as a "Crown beach", which was the precursor to the establishment of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. The province began expropriating beachfront properties to create a continuous belt of parkland along the full length of the beach, save for keeping part of the main beach area for commercial uses. This proved controversial; so the province scaled down plans and settled for separated parks, which are today's Beach Areas 2–6. Driving and parking on the beach was previously permitted and popular, but in 1973 the province took cars off the beach.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, a paved beachfront street, Beach Drive, was constructed along Beach 1 shortly thereafter.
Wasaga Beach was incorporated as a town on January 1, 1974, and its boundaries were expanded. The permanent population stood at 4,034, a dramatic increase from 1965, when 500 people were residents. Today, the town has 24,862 full-time residents and 16,000 seasonal and part-time residents.<ref name="town"/>
2007 Beach One fire
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On November 30, 2007, a major fire destroyed 90 per cent of the buildings along the street mall in the Beach One area. About 17 seasonal businesses were said to have been affected, including bikini shops, ice cream parlours, a restaurant, a motel, and an arcade.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Nearly 100 firefighters, most from surrounding municipalities, battled the blaze for hours. The Toronto Star later reported that "Twenty-one businesses in eight buildings overlooking Georgian Bay were destroyed, causing an estimated $5 million in damages."<ref name="ROBYN DOOLITTLE">Template:Cite news</ref>
Controversy also arose over whether or not the fire was deliberately set in order to allow unobstructed progression with the planned development or whether it was simply an accident. Two young men (one from Barrie and the other from Springwater) were charged with arson, although there was no evidence that the fire was deliberately set to remove the old buildings in advance of planned development.<ref name="ROBYN DOOLITTLE"/>
The Town of Wasaga Beach worked out a plan to help the remaining businesses open for the season but plans for hotels, a theme park and a monorail were cancelled.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, a new development plan (albeit with only a hotel initially) was released in January 2017.<ref name=plans>Template:Cite web</ref>
Local government
The town's council includes a mayor, deputy mayor, and five councilors that are elected at-large. The members of council elected as of the 2022 municipal election are:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Mayor: Brian Smith
Deputy Mayor: Tanya Snell
Councillors:
- Joe Belanger
- Sasha-Rose Dileo
- Faye Ego
- Ellen Timms
- Richard White
Economic challenges
Despite the major fire, the beach and the remaining businesses reopened the following summer. Although the destroyed buildings had been considered dated, they were missed by residents and visitors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> In 2008, an entertainment dome was built, intended as a temporary structure until development started. It lasted until February 2011 when the exterior cover was destroyed during a storm; repairs were not done and the dome never reopened. The structure was removed in May 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The long-term plans after the fire, by Armand and Dov Levy's Blue Beach Avenue corporation, included a rebuild of the area in a modern style with shopping and the aforementioned indoor/outdoor theme park, two major hotels and monorail. The proposed development came to an abrupt end when Blue Beach Avenue declared bankruptcy in 2010. "The past couple of years haven't been kind to the tourist industry ... So I gather there were some major cash shortfalls that put them in this situation," the town's mayor said at that time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Armand Levy was subsequently charged with fraud in 2012 after an investigation of misappropriation of the insurance money paid out after the 2007 fire but was ultimately acquitted.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Reduced tourism, partly because of the loss of many retail buildings, has continued to be a problem in the area. The majority of sales take place during the tourist season, which is typically not much longer than three months per year. (The most recent stats indicate a decline in tourism "of roughly 100,000 a year between 2002 and 2012".)
To step up development, in 2015 the town spent $13.5 million to purchase seven properties, including eight buildings and 28 rental units, along Beach Area One, becoming a landlord to some businesses, including three bars. The town acquired any existing leases from tenants and succeeded in leasing most of the empty space to commercial enterprises by July 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A few of the tenants subsequently enquired about the possibility of breaking their leases because they were struggling financially. The town council agreed to a one-time opportunity for businesses to break their leases without a penalty; requests to do so had to be submitted no later than September 23, 2016.<ref name="Brandon"/>
The beach is the town's primary attraction. Of the six main beach areas, Beach areas One and Two and the adjacent private/public lands have historically functioned as the main destination for tourism activity. Due to the economic climate, losses due to the fire, and a series of failed private redevelopment plans (until the present plan; see section below), Beach areas One and Two have been in steady decline.
This area is so important to the town that it undertook an in-depth community visioning exercise, called Opportunity Wasaga, to develop a long-term vision for the future of the public and private lands in this area.<ref name="thestar.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
There has been a great deal of controversy (among the public and council members) about the previous strategies used by the Town of Wasaga Beach, including the 2015 purchase of the seven properties for $13.8 million, using borrowed money. "That's no small sum for the town of 18,000 that will collect $20.3 million in property taxes this year and spend $48 million in operating and capital costs," according to a report by the Toronto Star.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
New development plans
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An entirely new Downtown Development Master Plan was released by town council in late January 2017, with an estimate for capital investment of $625 million and a 20 plus year time frame for completion. The first phase (five to 10 years) will cost about $200 million for two development areas, one on the beach and one across the river.<ref name=plans/>
In July 2018, under the council led by then-mayor Brian Smith, council agreed to enter into a Letter of Intent with FRAM Building Group for the development of town-owned land in the downtown and at the beachfront.
In December 2018, under a new council, with Nina Bifolchi as mayor, council decided to undertake a review of the development of town-owned lands in the downtown and at the beachfront.
The council agreed to let the Letter of Intent the town had with FRAM Building Group Ltd. lapse at the end of December 2018 as a first step in the review process. The Downtown Master Plan, however, remained in place. In March 2019, FRAM advised the town it was not interested in being a part of future development of the beachfront. The town began looking for other developers interested in developing town-owned land at the beachfront.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In September 2021, the Wasaga Beach Ratepayers Association opposed the scope of what they perceived to be excessively high densities in the development plans, and the association's president was accused by the Town of spreading false information and exaggerating said densities, as well as claiming residents were being shut out of Town Hall. This led to residents protesting in October.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
By June 2024, the years-long plan for the beachfront redevelopment was finally approved, and was unveiled at a public meeting attended by hundreds at the RecPlex on June 20 by Mayor Brian Smith (during his second term) and the project leader from FRAM Building GroupTemplate:Sndwho had initially pulled out of the project in 2019 before rejoiningTemplate:Sndand Sunray Group of Hotels.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2025, most of the old buildings along Beach Drive were demolished, and development of the first phase began that June with the construction of townhomes and retail space, with a Marriott hotel set to break ground in 2026.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Reconstruction of Beach Drive
Construction also began in 2025 to reconstruct Beach Drive by raising the road 5 feet (1.5 metres) above the beach level to avoid flooding issues during periods of high water levels,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with the last time this having occurred being between 2020 and 2022, when it was closed and covered in sand as a result of this (and by beachgoers ignoring physical-distancing protocols on the narrowed beach during the COVID-19 pandemic).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Wasaga Beach Provincial Park
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The beach (with the exception of a short separate area of private beaches in the extreme west end) is owned and operated by Ontario Parks as the Wasaga Beach Provincial Park, a recreational provincial park consisting of the town's trademark beach, as well as other non-beach areas. Beach Areas 1–6 can be accessed off Mosley Street, while Allenwood and New Wasaga Beaches are northeast of the mouth of the Nottawasaga River and are accessed via River Road East.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The park is available for day use only. Its area totals Template:Convert of which Template:Convert are protected. The park is a habitat for birds, primarily for shorebirds including the endangered piping plover. In addition to the beach, there are over Template:Convert of hiking trails. In winter, they are used for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The visitor centre provides access to the Nancy Island Historic Site with a theatre, a museum and a lighthouse.<ref name="auto"/>
Proposed transfer of portions of beach to municipality
In the summer of 2025, Ontario premier Doug Ford proposed transferring jurisdiction of Beach areas 1 and 2 and New Wasaga Beach to the town. The idea was controversial with residents and others and on August 24, 60 people (including Chris Glover, an MPP from Toronto) held a rally at Beach 1, claiming such a move "could open the door for the Ford government to sell off other provincial park spaces across Ontario".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Casino
The Playtime Casino Wasaga on Mosley Street in the town's west end opened on November 23, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The casino was first proposed in March 2018 by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation who selected Gateway Casinos to operate a casino in the South Georgian Bay area, and Wasaga Beach was selected as the location in October of that year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Between April 16 and May 1, 2023, the casino was closed due to Gateway Casinos being the victim of a cyberattack, which resulted in the closure of all its casinos in Ontario.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Clear
Land use, geology and topography
The Town of Wasaga Beach covers an area of Template:Convert composed predominantly of sand and loamy sand that exhibit excessive to good drainage and irregular to moderately sloping topography. The poor soil quality<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> makes it difficult to sustain lush lawns in the town. The Canada Land Inventory for Agriculture rates the lands as predominately Class Six and Seven with primary restrictions of adverse topography, erosion damage and low natural fertility.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Wasaga Beach is also a major "cottage country" town with many seasonal residents. An unusual aspect of the town compared to other such communities in Ontario is that most of the cottages are non-waterfront and are closely spaced on a network of side streets within the town itself (mostly between Mosley Street and the bay), rather than being located on larger lots in more rustic settings, often well outside the resort towns as is the typical case elsewhere.<ref>Template:Google Maps</ref><ref>Template:Google Maps</ref> Due to this aspect of its history, older residential areas also typically have a dispersed, "woodsy" character, although more recent developments are suburban in nature. <ref>Template:Google Maps</ref>
Demographics
Template:Historical populations
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Wasaga Beach had a population of Template:Val living in Template:Val of its Template:Val total private dwellings, a change of Template:Percentage from its 2016 population of Template:Val. With a land area of Template:Convert, it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021.<ref name=2021census>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Canada census The 2006 Canadian census indicated a population of 15,029 residents. When compared to its 2001 population of 12,419, Wasaga Beach was one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, based on population growth percentage (21.0% over 5 years).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Statistics Canada"/>
Civic facilities
The town has a large community centre; the RecPlex, which has an auditorium, an amphitheatre and a YMCA. There is also the Wasaga Stars Arena, which contains twin-pad hockey rinks. It began construction in September 2021 on the former main Waterworld site and opened on January 27, 2024, replacing an older single-rink facility.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The arena building is also home to the third relocation of the Wasaga Beach Public Library.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Schools
There are four schools in Wasaga Beach: Birchview Dunes Elementary School, St Noel Chabanal Catholic Elementary School, Wasaga Beach Public School, and Worsley Elementary School. The town has no secondary school, and buses transport over 760 students to high schools located in the nearby communities of Stayner, Elmvale, and Collingwood. However, in 2024 and 2025, the construction of two high schools for Wasaga Beach, one public and one separate (Catholic), were announced, with preparation of both sites underway as of October 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Public transit
Wasaga Beach Transit
Wasaga Beach Transit provides transit service in the town. It is operated by Sinton-Landmark Bus Lines, using town-owned buses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The service was started with one route in July 2008, then operated by Georgian Coach Lines, and quickly expanded to two routes in the summer of 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Services for Wasaga Beach Transit occur in a loop from the Wasaga Stars Arena in the east to 70th Street in the west every hour from 7 am to 8 pm; including weekends and holidays.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 6, 2023, the portion of Route 1 between Walmart and Archer Road was changed to an on-demand service format, with booking required in advance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Simcoe County LINX
Template:Main Simcoe County LINX connects Wasaga Beach with two routes running to Barrie (Route 2) and Collingwood (Route 4); with transfers with both Wasaga Beach Transit routes made at the Real Canadian Superstore. It has separate fares from Wasaga Beach Transit and there are no free transfers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notable residents
- Jason Arnott – NHL hockey player; born in Collingwood and raised in Wasaga Beach; in the summer of 2000, Jason Arnott Day was declared in Wasaga Beach to celebrate his Stanley-Cup-winning goal scored in double overtime.<ref name="Jason Arnott">Template:Cite web</ref> An art piece of the 2000 Stanley Cup Final can be seen at the Wasaga Stars Arena.
See also
References
External links
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