Bruce County, Ontario
Kincardine is a town of about 12,000 people on the Lake Huron shore in Bruce County, Ontario. It is roughly 230 kilometres northwest of Toronto, far enough to feel genuinely removed from the GTA but close enough that cottagers and day-trippers make the drive every summer weekend.
The town is known for three things: sunsets, the lighthouse, and the Scottish pipe band. The sunsets are a function of geography. Kincardine faces due west over Lake Huron, which means the sky turns into a production most evenings from June through September. People line up along Station Beach to watch. It is not a metaphor. They actually line up.
The Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band has paraded down Queen Street every Saturday evening in summer since 1908. It is one of the longest-running pipe band traditions in North America, and it draws a crowd that fills the downtown sidewalks. The lighthouse at the harbour, built in 1881, is the other landmark. It is still operational and open for tours in season.
The economic anchor of the area is Bruce Power, Canada's largest nuclear generating station, located about 15 minutes north on the Lake Huron coast. Bruce Power employs thousands of people directly and supports a significant contractor workforce, which gives Kincardine a stability that most small Ontario towns do not have. Housing prices reflect it. The town is more expensive than you would expect for a place this size, and the rental market is tight.
Downtown Queen Street has a decent mix of shops, restaurants, and services for a town of 12,000. The harbour area is the centre of summer activity. The Huron Shores Trail runs along the lakefront. Kincardine is also a stop on the Lake Huron Circle Tour, and it sits at the southern end of the Bruce Peninsula driving route that runs up to Tobermory.