Living

A Superior Living Experience

The area of the municipality of shuniah covers 55,374 hectares from copenhagen road at highway 11/17, bare point road east on lakeshore drive to a quarter of a mile west of ouimet canyon. The northern boundary is eight mile hill on spruce river road (hwy 527) and on the south a shoreline of approximately 40 kilometres from bare point to bays end and the shoreline on black bay.​

Shuniah has a considerable cottage population, with the first surveyed subdivision for recreational purposes being laid out in 1920 at Birch Beach.

In 1995, the number of households was listed as 1,971, permanent residents.​

Today, the number of households has risen to 2,887, an increase of almost 50%. The population of Shuniah is estimated at 2,348 which is based on owners whose full time or permanent address is within Shuniah. However during the summer months those numbers almost double and are estimated to be as high as 5,000.

Unique to Shuniah are the association areas stretching from just east of North Star Road to Wild Goose Park. In the association beach areas the lands are owned by the association in which the cottagers are the shareholders and in some cases lease the lands.

Being in such close proximity to the City of Thunder Bay, the Municipality of Shuniah serves mainly as a bedroom community with very little commercial development within its boundaries.​

The Present

Shuniah: The Present

Situated on the east boarder of Thunder Bay, Ontario, the Municipality of Shuniah is a beautiful oasis serving today primarily as a rural bedroom community to Thunder Bay with 40 kilometres of Lake Superior’s northern shoreline. There are five campgrounds situated within Shuniah to take time away and relax in the water or on the beach. There are a few conservation areas and parks available to visit during the day for some fun in the sun; some of which are equipped with boat launches and docks. If you have a passion for being outdoors, Shuniah is the place to be with its many trails for walking, biking, and hiking, abundance of diverse wildlife, and beautiful scenic views of Lake Superior.

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The Past

Shuniah: The Past

Shuniah, named after the Ojibwa word “zhooniyaa” for “money” or “silver”, was settled largely due to silver mining potential identified in the mid-19th century. An act of the legislature was passed in 1873 to organize the Municipality of Shuniah, consisting of the Townships of Pardee, Crooks, Blake, Paipoonge, Neebing , McIntyre, MacGregor, McTavish, the Village of Price Arthur’s Landing, Thunder Cape and the islands north of the American Border.

In 1874, Thunder Cape and Silver Islet were removed from the Municipality of Shuniah and in 1891 a multi-township was created. Each township constituted a ward. Prince Arthur’s Landing was incorporated into a town in 1884 called Port Arthur. The Town of Port Arthur expanded in April 1892 and May 1906 with the addition of land from MacGregor Township. When the City of Thunder Bay was incorporated in 1970, McIntyre was annexed from Shuniah and this took all industry and most of the commercial properties out of Shuniah.

In 1976, legislation was enacted to change the Municipality of Shuniah into the Township of Shuniah, consisting of MacGregor and McTavish Wards. The Corporation of Shuniah created an organized ward system for political purposes, with each township electing one council member and one from the island ward. The first election was held on June 20th, 1873, with John McKellar as the first reeve.

From 1994 to 2014, the township reeve has been Maria Harding. On October 27, 2014, Wendy Landry was elected as Reeve and as of January 26, 2015 the title of the Head of Council was changed from Reeve to Mayor.

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