About the Chamber
Representing more than 300 businesses across Midland, Penetanguishene, Tiny, Tay, and surrounding areas since 1928.
Who Are We
The Midland Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1928 by local business owners and community leaders. In the 2000s, it merged with the Penetanguishene and Tiny Chambers of Commerce to form the Southern Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Today, the Southern Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization representing more than 300 business members and their employees across the municipalities of Midland, Penetanguishene, Tiny, and Tay. Guided by a volunteer board of directors and supported by dedicated staff, the Chamber works to strengthen the local business community, support member success, and build lasting prosperity for the Southern Georgian Bay region.
Get Involved
Whether you're a new business looking for support or an established enterprise wanting to give back, the Chamber has a seat at the table for you.
Membership gives you access to networking events, a listing in our business directory, and a community of peers who understand this region.
Midland
Midland was founded in 1871, when the Midland Railway of Canada selected the sparsely populated community of Mundy's Bay as the western terminus for its line from Port Hope. The railway company renamed the surveyed townsite "Midland City" in 1872, though the "City" was later dropped upon incorporation as a town. Before the railway's arrival, the settlement had been known by several names, including Mundy's Bay, Hartley's Landing, and Aberdare (after the Welsh hometown of the community's first postmaster, Thomas Gladstane).
In the late 19th century, the town became an important centre for the logging industry, with numerous sawmills and timber companies operating along the shore. By the early 20th century, Midland began to develop as a tourist destination, attracting visitors from across North America to its beaches and parks on Georgian Bay.
Tay Township
The area now known as Tay Township has a history stretching back centuries. First Nation peoples, primarily the Wendat (Hurons), farmed and trapped the land from villages along local rivers, trading with neighbouring communities via established water routes and overland trails. In 1615, the first European missionaries arrived in the broader Huronia region. By 1798, the Ojibwa had sold much of what is now Tay and Tiny Townships to the government of Upper Canada for settlement.
In 1822, the township was officially named after a pet dog belonging to Lady Sarah Maitland, wife of Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland. (The neighbouring townships of Tiny and Flos were likewise named after two of the Maitlands' other dogs.) Tay remained primarily agricultural throughout much of its early history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the lumber industry drove significant growth, particularly around the settlement of Hogg's Bay, which was later renamed Victoria Harbour in honour of Queen Victoria.
In 1912, the Canadian Pacific Railway relocated its five-ship Great Lakes fleet from Owen Sound to its newly constructed port at Port McNicoll, on the southern shore of Georgian Bay. The fleet included the Assiniboia, the Keewatin, the Alberta, the Athabasca, and the Manitoba.
Penetanguishene
As early as AD 800, the Wyandot people settled in semi-permanent villages along the shores of Penetanguishene Bay and the surrounding region of Huronia. The earliest European visitor was the young French translator Étienne Brûlé, who arrived sometime between 1610 and 1614. Samuel de Champlain followed in 1615, developing links between New France and the Wendat. The bay's strategic potential was recognized by John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, in 1793, and Penetanguishene was developed as an Upper Lakes naval base in 1817.
The name "Penetanguishene" is believed to come from the Wyandot or Abenaki via Ojibwe, meaning "place of the white rolling sands." Although the naval base was closed in 1834, the military establishment remained until 1856, and many military pensioners stayed on in the community. The settlement of fur traders and voyageurs from Drummond Island in 1828, along with farm settlers from Québec in the 1840s, established Penetanguishene as the bilingual community it remains today. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Penetanguishene developed into a thriving commercial centre with businesses tied to the lumber and fishing industries, and was incorporated as a town on February 22, 1882.
Tiny Township
The area now known as Tiny Township lies within Wendake, the historical homeland of the Huron-Wendat Confederacy. By 1600, the Huron-Wendat had established villages throughout this territory, growing corn, beans, squash, tobacco, and sunflowers. Like its neighbours Tay and Flos (now Springwater), the township was named in 1822 after one of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels belonging to Lady Sarah Maitland, wife of Lieutenant Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland.
The first modern settler was Louis DesChenaux, a Drummond Islander, who arrived in 1833. He was followed by waves of French-speaking immigrants from Quebec and Irish settlers around Perkinsfield, drawn by cheap and fertile land. The Baldwin Act of 1850 established the Corporation of the United Townships of Tiny and Tay, and in 1868 the townships were separated by a Simcoe County by-law. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the lumber industry drove significant growth across the township, with sawmills and woodworking operations springing up along the rivers and creeks that flowed into Georgian Bay.
Become a Member
Join the Southern Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce and connect with over 300 businesses across Midland, Penetanguishene, Tiny, and Tay.