Bruce County is a county in Southwestern Ontario , Canada , and includes the Bruce Peninsula . The county seat is Walkerton, Ontario .
The name of the county is linked to the Bruce Trail and the Bruce Peninsula , which the trail runs through. Bruce County is named for James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine , sixth Governor General of the Province of Canada .
The county contains the Bruce Peninsula National Park . Notable towns include Tobermory and Wiarton , home of the weather predicting groundhog Wiarton Willie .
Subdivisions [ edit ]
Bruce County comprises eight municipalities (in population order, largest first):
Independent of Bruce County but within the Bruce census division are two First Nations reserves :
Historic townships [ edit ]
Albemarle (Hope Bay, McIver, Colpoy's Bay, Mar, Red Bay) now in South Bruce Peninsula
Amabel (Wiarton , Oliphant, Sauble Falls, Sauble Beach, Skipness, Park Head, Allenford) now in South Bruce Peninsula
Arran (Elsinore, Tara , Invermay, Burgoyne) now in Arran-Elderslie
Brant (Walkerton , Maple Hill, Dunkeld, Eden Grove, Vesta, Elmwood) now in Brockton
Bruce (Tiverton , Underwood, Inverhuron ) now in the Municipality of Kincardine
Carrick (Formosa, Ambleside, Mildmay , Deemerton, Carlsruhe) now in South Bruce
Culross (Teeswater ) now in South Bruce
Eastnor (Spry, Lion's Head , Hopeness, Pike Bay) now in Northern Bruce Peninsula
Elderslie (Paisley , Chesley ) now in Arran-Elderslie
Greenock (Riversdale, Greenock, Chepstow, Cargill, Pinkerton, Bradley, Lovat) now in Brockton
Huron (Pine River, Purple Grove, Verdun, Ripley ) now in Huron-Kinloss
Kincardine (Kincardine , Inverhuron , Millarton, Bervie, Armow) now in the Municipality of Kincardine
Kinloss (Kinloss, Kinlough, Holyrood, Langside, Lucknow ) now in Huron-Kinloss
Lindsay (Cape Chin, Dyer's Bay, Stokes Bay) now in Northern Bruce Peninsula
Saugeen (Southampton , Port Elgin ) now the Town of Saugeen Shores
St. Edmund's (Tobermory ) now in Northern Bruce Peninsula
Demographics [ edit ]
Historic population:
2011: 64,709 (5-year population growth: 1.1%)
2006: 64,000 (5-year population growth: 2.2%)
2001: 62,628 (5-year population growth: -3.7%)
1996: 65,042
Figures below are for the Bruce census division, which consists of Bruce County and two First Nations reserves.
Canada census – Bruce County community profile
2011
2006
2001
Population:
Land area:
Population density:
Median age:
Total private dwellings:
Median household income:
66,102 (1.2% from 2006)
4,087.76 km2 (1,578.29 sq mi)
16.2/km2 (42/sq mi)
40,033
65,349 (2.3% from 2001)
4,079.17 km2 (1,574.98 sq mi)
16.0/km2 (41/sq mi)
45.1 (M: 44.5, F: 45.7)
38,342
$54,403
63,892 (-2.7% from 1996)
4,155.53 km2 (1,604.46 sq mi)
15.4/km2 (40/sq mi)
42.4 (M: 41.8, F: 43.0)
36,864
$45,369
Visible Minorities and Aboriginals
Group
2011 Census
2006 Census
2001 Census
1996 Census
Population
% of total
Population
% of Total
Population
% of Total
Population
% of Total
Aboriginal
2,185
3.4
1,820
2.9
1,220
1.9
Visible Minority
965
1.5
595
0.9
590
0.9
All other
61,405
95.1
60,520
96.2
63,120
97.2
Total
64,555
100.0
62,935
100.0
64,930
100.0
Population by mother tongue
Group
2011 Census
2006 Census
2001 Census
1996 Census
Population
% of total
Population
% of Total
Population
% of Total
Population
% of Total
English
59,450
92.2
58,530
93.1
60,865
93.9
French
540
0.8
585
0.9
650
1.0
English and French
50
-
30
-
90
-
All other
4,510
7.0
3,800
6.0
3,325
5.1
Total
64,555
100.0
62,935
100.0
64,930
100.0
Attractions [ edit ]
Bruce County Museum and Archives
Arabia Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Avalon Voyageur II Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Big Tub Light (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Bluewater Park, Wiarton (South Bruce Peninsula)
Bluewater Summer Festival Theatre (Kincardine)
Bruce County Museum (Saugeen Shores)
Bruce Trail
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station (Tiverton)
Cabot Head Light and Heritage Museum (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Cascaden Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Cassel's Cove Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Chantry Island Light (Saugeen Shores)
Charles P. Minch Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
China Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Cove Island Point (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Devil's Monument (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Flowerpot Island Light (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Flowerpot Rocks (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Forest City Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Gargantua Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Gat Point Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Gillies Hill Ghost Town (Arran-Elderslie)
Hanover/Saugeen Airport (Brockton)
Indian Head Cove Caves and Grotto (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
James C. King Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
John Walters Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Kincardine Airport (Kincardine)
Kincardine Rear Range Light and Museum (Kincardine)
Lady Dufferin Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Larkwhistle Garden (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Malcolm Ghost Town (Brockton)
Marble bedded lake (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Marion L. Breck Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
M.S. Chi-Cheemaun (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Newaygo Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Philo Scoville Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Point Clark Lighthouse Museum (Huron-Kinloss)
Point Clark Lighthouse National Historic Site (Huron-Kinloss)
Points West Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Port Elgin Airport (Saugeen Shores)
Sauble Beach Amusements (South Bruce)
Sauble Speedway (South Bruce)
Saugeen Amphitheatre (Saugeen 29)
Saugeen River (canoeing)
Saugeen Trail (Saugeen Shores)
Sweetwater Cruise (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
The Peninsula and St. Edmunds Museum (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
The Scenic Caves (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Tobermory Airport (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Treasure Chest Museum (Arran-Elderslie)
Wiarton Willie (South Bruce Peninsula)
W.L. Wetmore Shipwreck (Northern Bruce Peninsula)
Protected Areas [ edit ]
Arran Lake Conservation Area
Black Creek Provincial Park
Brucedale Conservation Area
Bruce Peninsula National Park
Cabot Head Provincial Nature Reserve
Chantry Island National Migratory Bird Sanctuary
Denny's Dam Conservation Area
Fathom Five National Marine Park
Glammis Bog Conservation Area
Greenoch Swamp Wetland Complex Conservation Area
Hardwood Hills Conservation Area
Hope Bay Forest Provincial Nature Reserve
Inverhuron Provincial Park
Johnston Harbour Pine Tree Point Provincial Nature Reserve
Lion's Head Provincial Nature Reserve
Little Cove Provincial Nature Reserve
Lockerby Conservation Area
MacGregor Point Provincial Park
Algonquin
Huron
Nipissing
McBeath Conservation Area
McMaster Island Provincial Nature Reserve
Rankin Provincial Resource Management Area
Sauble Falls Provincial Park
Saugeen Bluffs Conservation Area
Smoky Head - White Bluff Provincial Nature Reserve
Spirit Rock Conservation Area
Stoney Island Conservation Area
Tara Conservation Area
Hungerford's crawling water beetle [ edit ]
Bruce County is home to one of the most critically endangered of all insects: the Hungerford's crawling water beetle . The only known population of Hungerford's crawling water beetles outside of the United States were discovered in the North Saugeen River near Scone . In 1986, 42 beetles were identified at a site downstream from a dam there. An unspecified number of beetles were last recorded in 2001, but surveys in 2002 uncovered no specimens. As a result, the status of the Bruce County population of Hungerford's crawling water beetles is uncertain at present.
Although the Hungerford's crawling water beetle was categorized as endangered on March 7, 1994, under the provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act , it is currently not protected in Canada.
Highways [ edit ]
Highways in Bruce include:
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
External links [ edit ]
Towns
Townships
First Nations
First Nations reserves