10 Canadian beaches that prove paradise is closer than you think

As many Canadians choose to stay north of the border this summer, Postmedia Travel will be publishing a series of stories highlighting the best that Canada has to offer. This week we look at Canada's best beaches.
Canada isn't exactly known for sun-soaked shorelines, but our magnificent coastlines and lakeshores are hiding glorious sandy treasures. From Caribbean-blue waters to sweeping dunes and rugged coastal gems, Canada delivers unexpectedly spectacular beach experiences.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CTV News

2 hours ago

• CTV News

‘We love you, come on down,': Business owner's message to Canadians boycotting U.S. travel

FILE - American and Canadian flags fly near the Palace Playland amusement park, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, a summer seaside resort town popular with French-Canadian tourists. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File( As the summer tourism season heats up and some Canadians choose to boycott U.S. travel, New England states and business owners want to draw Canadian tourists back. Maine's rugged coastline and sandy beaches have helped to earn it the license plate slogan 'Vacationland.' But this year, fewer Canadians are showing up. David Rowland, co-owner of York Beach Beer Company, has noticed fewer Canadian license plates and fewer Canadian surfers in York Beach. 'Down here at Long Sands Beach, it's usually lined with Quebecois or New Brunswick (tourists), and they're not here. Some are. But not like normal,' he said. 'We still have great beer and we're still nice people. And we have great waves and great mountains,' Rowland said. 'I would say, don't be afraid of us. We're not afraid of you. We're sorry.' From February to May, land crossings into Maine were down 27 per cent compared to last year. Other northeast states feel the drop of Canadian travellers too. At a summit in between northeast U.S. governors and Eastern Canadian premiers in Boston earlier this week, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey told reporters her state expects to see a 20 per cent decline in bookings. 'Vermont reports that hotel reservations by Canadians are down 45 per cent. Credit card spending by Canadians down 36 per cent. In New York City, bookings by Canadians are down 45 per cent,' said Governor Healey. Democratic governors blame U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric, after he repeatedly said he wanted to make Canada the 51st state. Trump also imposed tariffs on Canadian goods, including steel and aluminum. Maine's Governor Janet Mills said she's spoken with a bed and breakfast owner whose business has welcomed Canadians for generations but is now dealing with cancellations. 'It's not the tariffs that are affecting them so much as the hurt pride and Canadian citizenry,' said Mills. Maine has set up signs to welcome Canadians at border crossings and tourism visitor centres throughout the state. Its governor will travel to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia next week to meet with premiers, but also to promote her state as a destination. A Leger poll from May found that while Canadians' summer travel intentions are 'strong,' interest U.S.-bound travel this summer is 'collapsing' as only 10 per cent plan to travel to the U.S. this summer, down from 23 per cent last year. The poll also said 75 per cent of those polled who were planning a trip to the U.S. say tariffs announcement influenced their plans. More than half who had planned to visit the U.S. now plan to travel elsewhere. Other factors such as safety concerns, poor exchange rates, not feeling welcome and concerns about border delays also influenced their decisions. How the drop in Canadian tourism is impacting businesses varies depending on who you ask. At The Nevada Hotel in York Beach, Maine, its manager Valerie Fedorchak said they welcome guests from all over the world. Their Canadian guests are still coming. 'I'm really grateful to be able to say that we haven't noticed a substantial impact,' said Fedorchak. Typically, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Canadians account for up to 40 per cent of tourists each year. When announcing how Canada would respond to Trump's tariffs In March, former prime minister Justin Trudeau singled out Old Orchard Beach and Florida as places Canadians would choose to avoid. Family-run businesses like the Sandpiper Beachfront Motel welcome regulars from Canada every year, especially from Quebec. For some families, it's a 40-year tradition. 'For us personally we've only had a maybe a handful of people cancel if that,' said manager Michael Rioux, noting their longtime repeat clientele are still coming except one family that gave up seven rooms at the end of July. Rioux said the guest didn't want to cancel but her family did. 'Given the political situation, they wanted to boycott the U.S.,' he said. Rioux said his brother's business has also been dealing with more Canadian cancellations. He thinks the exchange rate, coupled with political turmoil will impact tourism in Old Orchard Beach. 'It's sad, because Canadians lose out on one of their places to go and then the mom and pop places like us lose as well,' Rioux said. Suzanne Ellis, the owner of Johnny Shucks Maine Lobster said the season started off slow, but she's noticed more Canadians showing up recently, especially this week. Ellis said she's very happy to have them here. The operator had been worried because a lot of her friends in Canada said they wouldn't be coming. Ellis estimates about 60 per cent of her customers are Canadians. 'We want to see you, we love you, come on down,' she said. Rioux message for Canadians is to do what you've been doing every year and enjoy your summer vacation. 'I think a lot of the political stuff is keeps us divided. I think we should stay together and help each other out and not fuel into a lot of the political theater and division that they perpetrate in the media,' said Rioux.

CTV News

6 hours ago

• CTV News

‘Left in the dark': Windsor man stuck in Tel Aviv still waiting on help from Ottawa

A Windsorite trapped in Tel Aviv a full week after conflict between Israel and Iran flared up. A Windsorite trapped in Tel Aviv says he's finally heard from Canadian officials, but he's still stuck in a region on edge, a full week after conflict between Israel and Iran flared up. Panagiotis Mavridis travelled to Israel earlier this month to run a hockey team in the Israeli Hockey League. He landed June 3, expecting a summer of beach days and game nights. But everything changed ten days later. 'I was here for a week and a half without any sirens, nothing like that. It was very chill,' said Mavridis. 'Now there's sirens every day.' The 21-year-old says there were up to five alerts a night at the height of the attacks, forcing him and a dozen teammates to shelter repeatedly in a Tel Aviv hotel bunker. 'We were going on literally two hours of sleep, three hours of sleep a night,' he said. That tension began June 13, when Israel launched a surprise strike on Iranian targets in Syria. Iran responded with a barrage of drones and missiles. Since then, Ottawa has advised Canadians to avoid all travel to Israel and reiterated longstanding warnings about travel to Iran. Mavridis says he reached out to the Canadian embassy as soon as the conflict erupted, but says the response was disappointing. 'They basically told us not to rely on them and stuff like that. You know, basically that they had no plans,' he said. Mavridis says he loves Canada, but can't help but feel frustrated. 'Every other country is doing stuff for their people that are stuck here,' he added. 'And we were just kind of left in the dark for a bit.' With the hockey season now suspended, Mavridis says the focus for him and other Canadian players has shifted to getting out. Canadian officials eventually told him that trying to reach a neighbouring country could be one option — he says that brings its own challenges. 'Our question was, how are they going to go there?' said Mavridis's mother, Vassi Talampassi, speaking from Windsor. 'It's very dangerous. It's a war zone. They cannot cross the country to go to Jordan or Egypt.' Global Affairs Canada confirms it has stationed consular officials in neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, for Canadians who manage to make it out. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the federal government is working on commercial travel options but didn't announce a formal evacuation. 'We are planning commercial options for Canadians in Israel and Iran to leave the region through certain neighbouring jurisdictions,' Anand told The Canadian Press Thursday. Mavridis says his group of Canadians have registered with Global Affairs Canada, filling out the required forms and submitting their travel documents. But so far, they haven't been told when or how they'll be leaving. 'We can't really leave the area,' Mavridis said. 'We've just kind of been sitting here talking, doing research on how to get out of here. There's nothing really safe for us to do right now.' His mom says that limbo has taken a toll. 'We are — me and his father and his brother also — it's very stressful,' she said. 'We went through serious health issues as a family, and now this is just another thing we have to face.' On Thursday night, Mavridis said he finally got an email update. 'They said that they are going to start making plans for commercial flights,' he said. 'We haven't heard anything since then… but we did get news.' He's hopeful it means the end of his stay in Tel Aviv is near. 'My birthday's on June 30th, so hopefully I'm there for that.'

CBC

12 hours ago

• CBC

Nopiming business owners hope province will help shoulder losses from summer season cut short by wildfires

Business owners in an eastern Manitoba provincial park are glad to be reopening following more than a month of wildfire-induced closures, though they're shouldering thousands of dollars in lost revenue and wary their outdoorsy clientele might not rush back this summer. Earlier this month, the province announced tax deferrals for commercial operators that were impacted by wildfires, but one of the owners of Nopiming Lodge says there's concern that won't be enough to help them rebound right now. "We've taken quite a hit already," said Jesse Guenther, who owns and operates the lodge with his mother and brother. "It's going to be a lot less busy." A giant out-of-control wildfire ripped through the park, forcing evacuations in May. As of Friday, that fire remained 218,700 hectares in size — over four times the area of Winnipeg. "May is normally our busiest time, between the hunters and fishermen and everything, and people coming out camping," said Guenther. "So it's going to be a little tough to come back from that." Though the fire is still considered out of control, the southern portion of Nopiming Provincial Park was able to be reopened Wednesday for residents, cottagers and businesses. That includes areas along Provincial Road 315, as well as Bird, Booster, Flanders and Davidson lakes. Closures and mandatory evacuation orders remain in place for the rest of Nopiming, according to the Manitoba government's Friday wildfire update. Tulabi Falls and Bird Lake campgrounds will stay closed until at least June 26. Tulabi has 41 campsites and six yurts, with on average 3,862 nights stayed each year from May through October, while Bird Lake has 27 campsites and on average over 900 nights reserved, according to a provincial spokesperson. Beresford and Black Lake campgrounds will stay closed for the rest of the season, as will Shoe Lake, water routes in Nopiming and all backcountry locations hit by wildfires. 'Prime time is short': lodge owner But as the southern part of the park reopened this week, the Guenthers hurried back to their lodge, to do whatever they could to get back up and running. "Our amount of prime time is short — it's May to August, or May to September, and we need to get as much business as we can in them," Brenda Guenther, Jesse's mother, told CBC News in Nopiming on Thursday. The business relies not only on bookings, but also a raft of associated revenue streams, like boat and canoe rentals, which the family fears will suffer a slump due to backcountry closures. They also anticipate a drop in sales of firewood, bagged ice and other ancillary sources of cash flow due to the overall drop in traffic through the area. All told, the Guenthers expect to lose at least $60,000 this season. "It's the living for my boys and me," said Brenda. "This is their home. This is everything they've been doing forever." The head of the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association thinks the provincial tax deferrals will be helpful down the line, but says the government may need to do more in the short term to keep small businesses afloat. "Any help is much appreciated, but they're still going to have to pay taxes eventually," said executive director Don Lamont. "We've got to try and find some financial support in other places for them. Otherwise, there's going to be quite a few people that close their doors." Jesse Guenther, meanwhile, is hopeful that as the forest regrows, and provincial crews clear out burned brush and deadfall hazards from public-access areas, that the local cottage industry will bounce back. But he worries it could take a couple of years for visitor levels to return to normal. He welcomes more help from the province for businesses. "If they're able to in some way, shape or form, that would be something I would be open [to]" he said. "At the end of the day, we're just thankful to be back." Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@