JOINT TOWN & WASAGA BEACH PROVINCIAL PARK COMMITTEE - THE PROPOSAL - PART 2

September 22, 2026

What do the numbers tell us — and what don't they tell us?

Ontario Parks publishes annual visitation figures for its provincial parks. Here are the numbers for Wasaga Beach Provincial Park:

2020 — 1,373,948

2021 — 1,348,125

2022 — 1,693,517

2023 — 1,221,187

2024 — 1,372,712

2025 — 1,303,621

The numbers tell an interesting story.

Visitation peaked at almost 1.7 million visits in 2022, dropped by almost 28% in 2023, recovered somewhat in 2024, and declined again in 2025.

But the numbers alone don't tell us why.

We all know that weather can affect beach visitation. Post-COVID travel patterns may have played a role. And there was another significant change in 2023: Ontario introduced advance daily vehicle permits at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park, allowing visitors to reserve their parking online up to five days before their visit. The Province said the purpose was to reduce overcrowding and give visitors greater certainty.

Today, a Provincial Park daily vehicle permit costs $21 and permits for Beach Areas 3–6 can be reserved online or by phone. If capacity is reached, visitors without a reservation risk being unable to enter.

And here's where Wasaga gets complicated.

There are Provincial Park parking lots, municipal parking lots and private parking lots.

A Provincial Park permit cannot be used in a municipal lot, and a municipal permit cannot be used in a Provincial Park lot. The Town itself tells visitors to check the signs carefully because the permits are not interchangeable.

Visitors are talking about this online.

People ask where they are supposed to pay for parking, whether they need to reserve in advance, which beach a particular permit applies to, and whether they are dealing with Provincial or municipal parking. One Reddit discussion specifically asks whether the Provincial Park and the Town's beaches are actually different places. Another visitor reported receiving a parking ticket after paying to park, because they were in a different parking system.

These are individual experiences, of course. They aren't a scientific survey.

And that's the point.

But are we collecting enough information about their experience?

For example:

• Was paying or reserving easy?

• If your first choice of parking was full, what did you do?

• Did parking affect how long you stayed?

• And perhaps most importantly: Did your experience make you want to come back to Wasaga Beach?

There is another change we need to prepare for as we look toward the next tourism season.

In 2026, Ontario changed its provincial rules to allow responsible alcohol consumption in most areas of operating provincial parks, including beaches. However, local rules still matter. In Wasaga Beach, the Town's 2026 beach by-law maintains alcohol restrictions in Allenwood, New Wasaga, Beach Area 1 and Beach Area 2.

That's another example of why visitors need clear, consistent information.

A visitor doesn't necessarily think: "Today I am visiting land administered by one government, parking in a lot operated by another authority, and entering a beach area subject to a particular set of rules."

They think: "I'm going to Wasaga Beach."

And that's how we need to think about the visitor experience too.

Two governments. One community. One visitor experience.

Perhaps the next thing we need to measure isn't simply how many people came to Wasaga Beach.

Perhaps we need to ask them how their visit went.

That's why I'm advocating for a Joint Town and Wasaga Beach Provincial Park Committee to operate from Thanksgiving to April to discuss what works, what doesn't work, new ideas - and make decisions that benefit both the Town and the Park.

Thanks for listening!