Whitby possesses one of the best and most secure harbours on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The harbour is protected from Lake Ontario by a strong breakwater, which forms a relatively enclosed and capacious basin. Whitby’s harbour helped give it a monopoly in regional trade in the first half of the nineteenth century—by 1851, Whitby ranked third among lake ports in exports to the United States, superseded only by Kingston and Toronto. Chief among the harbour’s exports was grain, which was produced in the region and sold by farmers and merchants to others in Ontario and the United States. In the 1830s, the Province of Upper Canada built the first breakwater and lighthouse in Whitby harbour, while the Scadding Survey superimposed a small grid pattern of streets on the landscape at the north end of the Big Bay. These developments continue to dominate the harbour landscape today.

In the mid-1800s, Whitby’s regional trade dominance declined as a result of a number of factors discussed in the previous panel. As Whitby’s monopoly on trade waned, commercial shipping from Whitby harbour ceased.

In 2017, Whitby harbour is used for recreational purposes. A marina exists for pleasure crafts and small boats, and town inhabitants enjoy waterfront views. However, the Whitby harbour wetland complex has been severely damaged by the former use of the harbour as an active industrial port. The water quality remains very degraded—in 2010, Durham Region Coastal Monitoring Project reported that the water has the highest levels of nitrates recorded in the region (The Plan for Port Whitby—Technical Background Study, February 26, 2013, 61). In the next 150 years of its existence, the town of Whitby must remain attentive to issues of environmental restoration and pollution prevention, as the harbour wetland complex is an important habitat and breeding ground for several endangered species. Some species reliant upon the wetland complex include the barn swallow, bobolink, eastern meadowlark, and monarch butterfly.