Wasaga Beach - City of Canada

Wasaga Beach is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is a popular four-season tourist destination situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern end of Georgian Bay approximately two hours north of Toronto, and abuts, to the west, the resort town of Collingwood. Wasaga Beach is nestled in and around 14 kilometres of white sandy beach on Nottawasaga Bay and the winding Nottawasaga River.


The Town of Wasaga Beach has a history dating back to the fur trade days when it was the main route to the Great North West. The Town evolved into a strategic location in the War of 1812 when the schooner HMS Nancy was sunk at her moorings in an effort by the Americans to cut the supply line to Fort Michilimackinac and points to the north and west. Lumbering was the main industry for the remainder of the 19th century. Logs crowded the river and the bay floating down to feed local saw mills.

Wasaga's unsuitable sandy soil contributed to the late settlement of the area. The lack of suitable farming land made it unattractive to settlers. 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. The 1830s had officially surveyed most of the land in this area. Though unsuitable for farming, the Wasaga area had an abundance of trees. In the late 1830s and throughout the rest of the century the logging industry would play an important role in the development of the area.

Wasaga Beach entered history's headlines in 1934 when the first overseas flight from mainland Canada, across the Atlantic to England and in a plane called the "Trail of the Caribou", used Wasaga's long flat sandy beach as a take off strip.

Little by little, in the 1900s, families began to discover the beauty of the area. Gradually it became a place for family picnics and holidays. During the 1940s, while stationed at a nearby military base, servicemen from across Canada visited Wasaga's amusement park. They made Wasaga Beach known across the country. After the war, Wasaga Beach continued to be a popular place for cottages and day trips. A century old tradition of city dwellers coming to the Beach in the summer had begun.


The Town was originally referred to as "the northern border of Flos Sunnidale and Nottawasaga Townships". The first municipal reference occurred when a designation of Local Improvement District emerged in 1947. In 1949, Wasaga Beach progressed to the status of a Police Village in the Township of Sunnidale, and the Police Village graduated to Incorporated Village status in 1951.

The incorporation of the Town of Wasaga Beach became effective January 1, 1974. The permanent population stood at 4,034, a dramatic increase from 1965, when only 500 people called Wasaga Beach home. Today, 17,000 full time residents and 16,000 seasonal and part time residents reside at Wasaga Beach.