‘It’s still Sauble Beach’ - Sauble Beach sign changed to ‘Saugeen Beach’ by Indigenous group

After assuming control of Sauble Beach, Saugeen First Nation changed the name to Saugeen Beach. CTV London’s Scott Miller has the story.

Visitors to Sauble Beach were doing a double take Thursday as the iconic sign that greets tourists, which used to say Sauble Beach, was changed Monday night.

“My son showed me the picture he took and I said, ‘what the heck happened. What is happening here?’ ” said Suzanne from Hanover, who was seeing the sign change for the first time.

On the eve of Canada Day, members of the Saugeen First Nation changed the sign at the end of the Sauble Beach’s main street from “Welcome to Sauble Beach” to “Welcome to Saugeen Beach.”

“It’s obviously been decades in the making. We’ve had a lot of struggles. And I feel like finally, we can put our name on it,” said Saugeen First Nation Coun. Cheree Urscheler.

Following a nearly 30 year court battle, the Saugeen First Nation had ownership of nearly 2.5 km’s of Sauble Beach’s valuable sand, returned to them, in April 2023. Following multiple appeals by the previous owners, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, the decision to return ownership of Sauble’s sand to the Saugeen First Nation was upheld in December 2024.

A change to Sauble’s sign was supposed to happen earlier this summer, but it was decided to hold off until the eve of Canada Day.

“The timing, I think, for me personally, the timing is perfect. It’s a statement,” said Saugeen First Nation Coun. Sonya Roote.

The sign change caught many off guard, including the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, who didn’t know the Sauble sign was coming down and the Saugeen sign was going up until it happened.

“The Sauble Beach sign is a well-known landmark with deep meaning for many people,” says South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Jay Kirkland.

“While we respect Saugeen First Nation’s right to make changes on their land, we believe open communication is important, especially when it involves something so symbolic to the broader community. We remain committed to respectful dialogue and working together in the spirit of mutual understanding,” continues Kirkland.

While many Sauble Beach visitors CTV News spoke to hadn’t even noticed to sign name change, those that did notice have mixed opinions about it.

“It was disappointing and it was surprising, just because I don’t think many people knew that it was coming. And, you know, just to show up on July 1st and see the sign has been changed on the beach, I think a lot of people are just in disbelief,” says Suzanne from Hanover.

“I’m really glad that they did it, because like everyone knows it as Sauble Beach, when it isn’t actually, it’s Saugeen Beach, and I think people should know that,” said Anouska and her family visiting from Hamilton.

The sign change at the beachfront from “Sauble Beach” to “Saugeen Beach” is more symbolic than anything, said Saugeen First Nation councillors, Roote and Urscheler. The town itself is still called Sauble Beach, and that’s still what will show up on everyone’s GPS, when they plan their visit to the sand and waters, clearly owned by the Saugeen First Nation.

“To everybody, it’ll still be Sauble Beach. The town is still Sauble Beach. It’s just, this part of the beach is Saugeen First Nation. That’s all,” says Saugeen First Nation Coun. Lester Anoquot.

“I understand people saying, it’s iconic and we grew up with it, I grew up with as Sauble Beach as well. But, it would have been nice to grow up with it being Saugeen Beach the whole time, right? Which it should have been. So I mean, there’s a lot of years it was the wrong name put on the beach, so I think, I think it’s time,” said Roote.

“Forever, it’s always been Sauble Beach and forever in my mind, it’s not. And it was kind of hurtful to see that, and to know that, behind the scenes, we’ve always been trying to get it back. So to see it now, yeah, my heart is smiling,” said Urscheler.