About Pelee


Canada's Southern Treasure


Pelee Island is a serenely beautiful area with miles of lovely beaches, natural areas that are unsurpassed, and the fishing is superb. When you visit Pelee you will be limited only by your imagination.

Pelee Island is Canada's southernmost inhabited land. With about 300 permanent residents on Pelee, the population swells to about 1,500 during the summer months. At 10,000 acres Pelee is the largest of the Lake Erie islands.

From historical sites to shops, nature walks, and night life, Pelee Island provides visitors with a myriad of opportunities. Whether taking a bike ride, going for a swim, browsing through the local shops or indulging in the food and drink that the Island has to offer, Pelee Island can satisfy your desire for calm and quiet or for new sights and sounds.

A dozen and more factors made the islands a place of wildlife diversity, a place which has become home to a myriad of species rare to Canada. Carolinian Canada at its richest is found here. Rare insects, snails, mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have come to comprise a neighbourhood of outstanding natural heritage.

Pelee Island is a significant stopover site for many species of migratory birds and is designated as a globally Important Bird Area by the Canadian partners of BirdLife International – the Canadian Nature Federation and Bird Studies Canada.

As home to the oldest estate winery in Canada, Pelee Island has a tradition richly steeped in winemaking. Beginning in 1866 with Vin Villa Winery, an industry was born on the Island that would flourish until the early 1900s. While the wine industry decreased through the early 19th century, rum runners thrived as Prohibition was introduced into the United States. Using Pelee Island as a stopping point as they traveled across the lake, the Island was an important port during these years of contraband activity. Today, winemaking thrives again on Pelee Island, its vintages receiving acclaim around the world.

Come and experience all that the Island has to offer!