Bronte Inner Harbour

Amenities and services

Winter storage

Space is limited

Storage available for boats up to 40 feet and we can also accommodate boats on trailers
Storage fee includes power washing of your hull after haul-out, haul-out and spring launch
Outdoor storage with camera surveillance

Winter storage package (haul/bottom wash/storage/launch): $6.10/square foot

Winter storage only (no services): $4.95/square foot

Launch ramp

Bronte Harbour Public Boat Launch Ramp - Bronte Beach Park (45 West River Street) $20 (including HST).

Ramp fees

Ramp fee payable by credit card at the terminal located next to the launch ramp. For pay and display at the Bronte ramp, please display ticket on dashboard of vehicle towing trailer. For pay by plate at the Bronte ramp, please enter the license plate of the vehicle towing trailer.

Pay with the HONK mobile app on your phone. Visit the HONK Mobile website to download the app and then pay for the ramp using zone 2347 for the Bronte ramp.

Launch ramp closes November 1

Seasonal ramp passes

Seasonal Ramp Pass – Resident of Oakville - $172.89

Seasonal Ramp Pass – Non-Resident - $238.55

Seasonal Ramp passes are available to purchase after April 15 at the Harbour Office, 2340 Ontario Street, Unit 4.

To purchase a pass you must provide a copy of your driver's licence, the licence plate number of the vehicle towing the trailer (maximum two vehicles) and the licence plate number for the trailer (only one trailer plate number is allowed per permit).

Fees

Mooring rates

Finger dock

$89.25 (non-resident rate $98.18) per foot at full-service finger dock (includes non-potable water and one 30-amp electrical plug)
$79.70 (non-resident rate $87.67) per foot at non-service finger dock

For information regarding rates for docks at Oakville and Bronte Harbours, please contact the Harbours office at 905-845-6601, ext. 4090 or 4091.

Other fees

All slip holders pay an annual TOWARF fee $26 plus an Infrastructure Fee of $6.60 per foot, plus HST
Out of town applicants add 10 per cent surcharge to mooring rates
Registration charge – New Permit Holder: $136.20

History of Bronte Harbour

History

The area that is presently Bronte was first settled by Europeans beginning in 1807, after the land was purchased from the Mississauga tribe and Trafalgar Township was surveyed. By 1856, Bronte was a busy Lake Ontario port, exporting wheat, building ships, and developing a thriving commercial fishery and stonehooking industry. The town's population grew to 550. With the coming of the railroad, the harbour's business declined and the population went down to 220.

Bronte was incorporated as a village in 1952. Ten years later, the village and part of the Township of Trafalgar were amalgamated into the Town of Oakville.

Unlike neighbouring Oakville, where by the late 1820s William Chisholm had financed a harbour privately, development of port facilities in Bronte was delayed until the founding of the Bronte Harbour Company. Led by Samuel Bealey Harrison, a politician, lawyer and judge, residents of Bronte petitioned the government of Upper Canada to incorporate a company to build a harbour at the mouth of Twelve Mile Creek. After a 10-year struggle to obtain support, the Bronte Harbour Company was founded in 1846. By 1856, construction of Bronte's newly dredged harbour with two piers and a lighthouse was complete. The village's waterfront was transformed from a shallow marshland, inaccessible from the water, to a harbour with sufficient depth to sustain itself as a thriving Lake Ontario port.

Learn more about the history of Bronte Harbour by opening the Bronte Fishermen’s Memorial – Facts and History brochure (pdf).