Ford stops in Wasaga Beach for major investment announcement to help boost tourism

Premier Doug Ford stopped in Wasaga Beach to announce a $38M investment to boost local tourism.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made a stop in Wasaga Beach Friday morning to highlight the province’s commitment to inject nearly $38 million into boosting tourism in the beachfront town and to help it evolve into a year-round destination.

“It’s great to be here in beautiful Wasaga Beach,” Ford said while standing at a podium positioned along the waterfront.

The premier’s visit comes one day after Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy introduced the $232.5 billion budget with a focus on fortifying Ontario’s economy, including the tourism sector.

“Wasaga Beach is a world-class tourist destination, with the longest freshwater beach in the world and an incredible history, including at Nancy Island,” said Ford. “We’re helping bring this important part of Ontario’s history back to life and we’re working with the municipality to revitalize the downtown, create jobs and welcome tourists from across Ontario and around the world.”

“Tourism is our bread and butter in Wasaga Beach — tourism supports our local businesses and entrepreneurs, it helps us build homes, parks, schools, roads and water towers, and it is a massive economic driver for our province," noted Mayor Brian Smith in a social media post on Thursday. “When you invest in making Wasaga Beach a more viable, sustainable, year-round Ontario destination — you’re investing in a stronger Ontario."

The town’s mayor got a personal boost from the premier Friday, who called Smith “incredible,” adding, ”He is the champion of all champs because he’s been advocating for this for years, I guess. But I love your vision,” Ford said to the town’s mayor, commenting on the transformation the downtown is undergoing with its redevelopment of Beach Area one, a project that will see new homes and businesses built. “This is going to be, it’s spectacular now, but it’s going to be even more spectacular.”

Ontario’s investment into Destination Wasaga breaks down to $25 million to upgrade Nancy Island Historic Site, nearly $11 million to support reconstruction of the town’s roadways project and critical infrastructure for more than 3,000 new homes, plus $2 million toward the downtown redevelopment.

“We’re investing in workers, in infrastructure, and communities, just like we’re doing here, and this includes the tourism sector across our province,” Ford noted. “If you don’t support and create the environment and conditions for companies to build they just won’t build. One hundred per cent of zero is zero. So, we believe and we’re cutting the red tape in regulations — We’re going to build, and we’re going to build like we’ve never built before.”

On Thursday, the Town of Wasaga Beach announced it had taken another leap forward with its redevelopment project by awarding the contract to rebuild the iconic Beach Drive to Arnott Construction, a locally owned and operated company out of Midhurst.

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