Heritage Lighthouses of Canada

Designated Lighthouses

The Minister responsible for Parks Canada designates heritage lighthouses on behalf of the Government of Canada.

The Minister responsible for Parks Canada will consider all lighthouses for which a valid petition was received and determine which should be designated as heritage lighthouses on or before 29 May 2015, taking into account the advice of an advisory committee and the established criteria.

To learn more about processes related to the evaluation and designation of petitioned lighthouses, please visit our Evaluation & Designation page.

To learn which lighthouses were petitioned to be considered for heritage designation under the Act, you can access province-by-province listings that are available from our Petitioned Lighthouses page.

Heritage lighthouses in Ontario

McNab Point
A 8.5 metre (28 ft) square wooden structure with tapered walls, surmounted by an iron lantern and a cylindrical ventilator; unlike many similar towers it has no gallery. Constructed in 1877 as part of a major harbour improvement project, it was relocated from the northern tip of Horseshoe Bay to its present location on McNab Point in 1901.
Location: Town of Saugeen Shores, Southampton ON
Statement of Significance (LH-009): English (PDF, 95 Kb) | French (PDF, 100 Kb)
Designated in August 2012.

Saugeen River Front Range
A 9.5 metre (31 ft) square wooden structure with tapered walls, surmounted by a metal railed gallery and a wooden lantern. Located on Lake Huron on the end of a pier extending westward from the north side of the mouth of the Saugeen River in the community of Southampton, it and the nearly identical rear range light located 750 metres to the east were constructed in 1903.
Location: Town of Saugeen Shores, Southampton ON
Statement of Significance (LH-007): English (PDF, 100 Kb) | French (PDF, 100 Kb)
Designated in August 2012.

Saugeen River Rear Range
A 9.5 metre (31 ft) square wooden structure with tapered walls, surmounted by a metal railed gallery and a wooden lantern. Located on a rise of land on the north side of the Saugeen River in the community of Southampton, it and the nearly identical front range light located 750 metres to the west were constructed in 1903. Originally located 215 metres to the east of the front light, it was moved to its current location in 1906.
Location: Town of Saugeen Shores, Southampton ON
Statement of Significance (LH-008): English (PDF, 100 Kb) | French (PDF, 100 Kb)
Designated in August 2012.

Heritage lighthouses in Nova Scotia

St. Paul Island Southwest
A prefabricated, cast-iron, cylindrical tower surmounted by a 12-sided iron lantern. It was built to warn vessels away from the dangerous St. Paul Island in the Cabot Strait with a flashing light that was visible to a distance of 18 nautical miles. It illustrates the importance and ingenuity of the Dominion Lighthouse Depot and the Canadian Coast Guard in providing a marine aids to navigation program in Canadian waters.
Location: Dingwall, Cape Breton NS
Statement of Significance (LH-043): English (PDF, 95 Kb) | French (PDF, 105 Kb)
Designated in August 2012.