One guide for five lakes and two countries
Shoreline communities, parks and local businesses from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario, in Canada and the United States, presented as one connected region.
FOR TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS, MUNICIPALITIES & COMMUNITY GROUPS
Working together
for the Great Lakes.
TheGreatLakes.ca is an independent visitor guide to the shorelines and communities of all five Great Lakes, built to help people discover the whole region, including the small, local businesses that larger platforms miss. We would like to work with the organizations that know it best.
THE GUIDE TODAY · LIVE FROM OUR DATABASE
211
local businesses listed
10
parks & places
10
community guides
22
events in the calendar
14
sourced articles & trip guides
WHAT THE GUIDE DOES
Built for visitors. Useful to the region.
A guide that sends visitors to operators
Every listing links straight to the business’s own website or booking page. We measure those referral clicks, so the value to local businesses can be reported, not guessed.
Free listings for local businesses
Any shoreline business can be listed at no cost, then claim the listing to correct details and add its own photography.
Accurate answers in AI assistants
Our published content is open to AI assistants through llms.txt, so travellers asking an assistant about the Great Lakes get current, sourced information with a link back.
Accessibility information visitors can act on
Listings and places carry declared and verified accessibility features, and the directory can be filtered by them.
Indigenous history told carefully
We write from the Nations’ own published sources and welcome guidance from First Nations, Métis and Tribal Nations on how their history and places are presented.
WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER
Where a partnership helps most.
Fact review and content partnerships
Review or co-author guides in your area of expertise, from parks and shoreline trails to maritime heritage and local food, credited on the page.
Event and data sharing
Connect an events calendar or listings directory so visitors see your information as it changes, with your organisation credited as the source.
Cross-border and shoulder-season campaigns
Campaigns built around real places and businesses that spread visits across seasons and across the lakes, always labelled where sponsored.
Engagement reporting
Aggregate reporting on what visitors look at and where they click through, by lake and category, to support funding applications and planning.
Part of a regional network.
TheGreatLakes.ca sits alongside MuskokaOntario.com, CentralOntario.ca, covering seven regions of Ontario’s lake country, and ShopLocal.website, a Canadian local-business directory. A business or event shared with one can reach visitors on the others where it is relevant.
Who we are.
The network is developed by Jason Ansell, a Canadian technology entrepreneur, author and publisher based in Bracebridge, Ontario. More about us.