Keswick reaches out to entrepreneurs, adventure tourists - Lake Simcoe village sets economic course for the future

Keswick, on the eastern shore of Cook’s Bay on Lake Simcoe, is the largest urban centre in the Town of Georgina, Ontario’s original cottage country.  

Also the fastest-growing community in Georgina, Keswick is headquarters to the town’s administrative offices and many of its recreational and cultural services. The beautiful Maskinonge River flows through the middle of Keswick, whose citizens make up nearly half of Georgina’s population of about 46,000.   

Georgina is geographically the largest municipality in York Region, and boasts 52 kilometres of Lake Simcoe shoreline, stretching from Keswick in the southwest up to Roches Point and over to the north to Jackson’s Point and Sutton on Lake Simcoe (see separate profile on Sutton-Jackson's Point). Year-round fishing has earned Georgina the title of Ice-Fishing Capital of the World.  

Nature abounds in Keswick

Originally a village within the former Township of North Gwillimbury, Keswick has matured over the years, transforming itself from primarily a cottage community to a bustling commuter town where year-round residents enjoy abundant natural areas, plenty of local shopping and the many recreational opportunities that Lake Simcoe has to offer.

Public and private beaches and marinas are scattered throughout the long and narrow Keswick, which from its southern border is just 25 kilometres from Newmarket. The southwestern portion of Keswick is known as the Keswick Marsh, part of the World Famous Holland Marsh.  

Keswick’s leafy lakeshore neighbourhoods, which once attracted throngs of summer residents, now offer a pleasant mix of newer homes and quaint, renovated cottages.

Local employment is limited, however, as most residents commute to points south —  the modern Highway 404 provides access to downtown Toronto in less than an hour from Keswick, and in about 90 minutes from even the farthest point in Georgina. The town is working to bring industry and new jobs to a fledgling business park in Keswick’s southeast corner.  

Welcome mat out for successful entrepreneurs

Georgina is focusing its efforts on promoting the town as the perfect place for the well-heeled entrepreneur to set up shop. Why commute when you can work and live in a four-season playground with culture galore and plenty to see and do every day of the week? The town’s new strategic plan puts the emphasis on attracting both day-trippers and boomers anxious to trade commuting for a home-based business. “Live, work and play” is the new mantra.

And to capitalize on the sustainable living trend, the town is also looking at partnering with like-minded groups and agencies to create a multimillion-dollar “water research and innovation institute” that would conduct research on ways to clean up the world’s waterways, including the beautiful Lake Simcoe.  

With all the home construction under way in Keswick today, it’s obvious news about the town’s clean, affordable living is getting out. A major residential development in the south end of Keswick will add more than 5,000 homes over the next 15 years, bringing more schools and parks along the way. The annual growth rate in Keswick has been more than three per cent, well above the Georgina average.  

Outdoor adventure part of tourism strategy

While Keswick already has plenty to offer — from live theatre and concerts to golf courses, walking trails, beaches, marinas and museums — town council is moving ahead with an ambitious $14-million project that aims to attract not only young day-trippers, but permanent residents seeking the thrill of outdoor adventure.  

The town’s Multi-Use Recreational Park got a major boost in July 2009 when the federal government announced it was adding its $4.7-million share to the pot. To be located on 150 acres on the town’s sprawling Georgina Civic Centre property and adjacent to the existing snow tube hill, the park is set to become a winter paradise for snow boarders and the summer home to serious mountain bikers, BMX enthusiasts and world cup 4X racing, Canada’s newest hot cycling sport. A network of mountain and cross-country biking trails and a rhythm track for aerial manoeuvres will round out the all-season park.  

The Civic Centre lands, located at the site of the former 587-acre community built in 1958 by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer for priests and nuns in training, is already home to the Georgina Pioneer Village, the Georgina Lawn Bowling Club, the Keswick Model Air Plane Club, several baseball diamonds, a tennis court and the tubing hill.  

To the south, along the Woodbine corridor, you’ll find the Georgina Ice Palace, which includes the Keswick Library, gymnasium, youth centre and skateboard park.  

Stephen Leacock Theatre a jewel for all seasons

Keswick is also home to the area’s performing arts, with the beautiful Stephen Leacock Theatre, named for one of Georgina’s most famous citizens, the community’s pride and joy. The Gwendolyn Drive theatre, which also houses the Georgina Club 55 seniors centre, serves as the temporary home to the Red Barn Theatre, a landmark at Jackson’s Point that burned down in 2009. Fundraising is under way to rebuild the Red Barn at its original location.  

If you visit Keswick in June, you can take in the Music in the Streets festival celebrating local talent. Also in June, the Blue Bridge Festival of chamber music, poetry and song is held each year in Sutton, as is the Georgina Highland Gathering. While you’re in Sutton, don’t forget to visit the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery, which has established itself as one of the most acclaimed art galleries in the province since opening its doors in 2001.  

In the winter months, you can try your luck at several big-money fishing tournaments and take the family to the Peter Gzowski Festival of Stories, a celebration of the joys of reading and storytelling, named for the beloved Canadian broadcaster who, along with other famous storytellers, including Stephen Leacock, Lucy Maud Montgomery and Mazo de la Roche, found inspiration in Georgina’s towns and villages.  

Lucy Maud Montgomery among early tourists

Because of the social standing of its settlers — the first land grants were issues to retired military officers, veterans of the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 — Georgina became known for its culture and refinement, attributes that later transformed it into an urbane playground for wealthy urbanites. Lucy Maud Montgomery is known to have travelled from Prince Edward Island to spend time in Keswick.  

Most of the early stately homes built by the aristocrats who settled in Georgina can be found in Sutton and around Jackson’s Point in the north along Lake Simcoe.

On the real estate front in Keswick, recently listed waterfront property included a three-bedroom, two-bath bungalow on the Maskinonge River — with direct access to Cook’s Bay — for $349,900. A three-bed, three-bath townhouse condo right on the bay was listed for $399,900. At the top end, a five-bed, five-bath waterfront estate on the bay with five acres of land and boasting 275 feet of shoreline, boathouse and tennis court, was listed at $3,545,000.