Sarnia
Lambton County's largest city and its hub, sitting where Lake Huron meets the St. Clair River, directly across from Port Huron, Michigan. Home to about 72,000 people, a working waterfront, and the Blue Water Bridge that connects Canada to the U.S.
What makes it unique
Sarnia sits at the very foot of Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes, right where the lake narrows into the St. Clair River. That geography is the city's identity: the Blue Water Bridge crossing into the U.S. gives the whole region its tourism name, Ontario's Blue Coast, and it's one of the few places in the country where you can stand on a beach and watch a Great Lake pour into a river, with another country visible on the far shore.
The shoreline running through Canatara Park and the neighbouring Wawanosh Wetlands is also home to a rare dune-and-swale ecosystem — ridges of old sand dunes alternating with wet, marshy troughs — one of the largest and best-preserved examples left on the Great Lakes. It shelters plants and species at risk found almost nowhere else in Canada, right in the middle of the city.
A little history
Long before it had a European name, this bend in the St. Clair River was a meeting place and trading post within the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe — the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi.
In 1991, the City of Sarnia amalgamated with the surrounding Township of Sarnia, roughly doubling its size. The Second World War brought Polymer Corporation's synthetic rubber plant in 1942, the start of what's now known as Chemical Valley — still the backbone of the local economy alongside Lambton College and a growing downtown arts and brewery scene.
Next door: Point Edward
The Village of Point Edward is its own municipality, entirely surrounded by Sarnia at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge — and for most families the two blur together. Point Edward's Waterfront Park sits right under the bridge, with a playground, green space and a front-row seat for watching Great Lakes freighters squeeze into the St. Clair River. The famous chip trucks of Fries Under the Bridge (below) technically park on Point Edward soil.
Claim to fame
Sarnia's best-known native is Chris Hadfield, the astronaut who became the first Canadian to walk in space and later commanded the International Space Station. He grew up here before joining the Air Force and, eventually, the Canadian Space Agency.
The city has also sent a handful of familiar faces to film and TV: actor Cameron Mathison (All My Children), Keegan Connor Tracy (Once Upon a Time), and voice actor Scott McCord (Bakugan) were all born in Sarnia.
Six Things You Don't Want to Miss
Canatara Park, Animal Farm & Beach
The city's largest park and best-known attraction: a sandy beach, picnic areas, walking trails, a concert stage, a small free animal farm with goats, sheep and birds, and Wawanosh Wetlands next door.
Centennial Park & Sarnia Bay
A waterfront park and marina with sweeping views of the Blue Water Bridge and the St. Clair River — part of a walking and biking trail that runs the length of the shore.
Downtown Farmers' Market
One of the oldest continuously running farmers' markets in Ontario, right downtown — produce, baking and local goods, steps from the shops on Christina Street.
Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery
A free public art gallery in the heart of downtown, with rotating historical and contemporary exhibitions — an easy stop before or after the market.
Fries Under the Bridge
A Sarnia institution: chip trucks parked in the shadow of the Blue Water Bridge, dishing out fries with a view of the river traffic and the border crossing overhead.
Sarnia's Celebration of Lights
The city's holiday light display at Centennial Park, lighting up the waterfront through the darkest weeks of the year — a Sarnia tradition for families every winter.
Parks in Sarnia
The city maintains over 1,040 acres of parkland across 95 parks. A few favourites to start with: