The Georgian Bay Geopark initiative is a grassroots organization exploring
how a basin-wide approach rooted in the area’s unique geology could work to help address the mounting pressures from human activity on Georgian Bay and the North Channel.
All involved believe that the UNESCO Global Geopark model and framework based on the entire region’s internationally significant geological heritage is the best way to have its distinctiveness and qualities advanced through protection, education, and sustainable economic development.
After three years of foundational research, partnership building, and listening, we are entering a new phase — sharing what we’ve learned and inviting communities, municipalities, and First Nations across the region into an open and transparent dialogue. Together, let us imagine what can be created for the lands, the waters, the cultures, and the generations yet to come in this extraordinary part of Canada.
Explore the Geological Past. Create a Sustainable Future
Geological events naturally divide the region into eight DEEP TIME Zones. This can help us all gain a better understanding and appreciation of history and the future of the entire watershed. Geology helps tell us how all of those who inhabit the lands have made their mark and how we can all work to shape the coming years.
After three years of foundational research, partnership building, and listening, we are entering a new phase — sharing what we’ve learned and inviting communities, municipalities, and First Nations across the region into an open and transparent dialogue. Together, let us imagine what can be created for the lands, the waters, the cultures and the generations yet to come of this extraordinary part of Canada.
Discover the DEEP TIME geology of the Georgian Bay Geopark
DEEP TIME’ is the themed expression of how exploring and understanding the past helps create a better future. The unique DEEP TIME story and its eight geological chapters encourages both visitors and residents to know the past, celebrate the present and help create a more resilient future for the Bay and its many communities.
DEEP TIME Zone 1
2.7 billion years
Sault Ste Marie to Serpent River
The ancient mineral-rich rocks of the North Channel record the breakup of the planet’s oldest supercontinent – and the birth of the Huronian Ocean.
DEEP TIME Zone 2
1.8 billion years
Serpent River to Killarney
The Group of Seven’s white rolling quartzite hills are the stumps of mountains formed when landmasses collided to form supercontinent Nuna
DEEP TIME Zone 3
1.3 billion years
Killarney to Honey Harbour
The waterscape of the 30,000 Islands exposes the deep crustal roots of the immense Grenville Mountains formed when North and South America collided.
DEEP TIME Zone 4
500 million years
Manitoulin Island
Much of North America was covered by warm shallow seas, teeming with early marine life that left fossil-rich limestones on Manitoulin Island.
DEEP TIME Zone 5
350 million years
Tobermory to Wiarton
Within the last 2 million years, the Bruce/Saugeen peninsula was scoured by Ice Age ice sheets that cut deep valleys into the face of the Niagara Escarpment such as at Owen Sound.
DEEP TIME Zone 6
13,000 years
Collingwood to Wiarton
The raised beaches of glacial Lake Algonquin surround the coast of southern Georgian Bay like staircases and hosted the camps of caribou-hunting Paleo-Indians 11,000 years ago.
DEEP TIME Zone 7
Last 10,000 years
Collingwood to Honey Harbour
The ancient hard rocks of the Canadian Shield meet the softer limestones of the ancient seas creating a stark contrast in landscapes, ecosystems, and a diverse cultural history unique in North America.
DEEP TIME Zone 8
4,000 years to today
Waters of Georgian Bay
In 1615 Samuel de Champlain called Georgian Bay ‘La Mer Douce’ (the sweet water sea). An early map also portrays it as Karegnondi, derived from ‘lake’ in the language of the Petun First Nation.