Pier 4

Pier 4 beach is closed due to a harmful algae bloom. Click for more information.

Pier 4, like Bayfront Park, is one of Lake Ontario's youngest waterfront areas. The park itself was opened in 1993. It was a $9-million transformation of once industrial land into greenspace. The family-friendly beach sits beside one of Hamilton Harbour's popular recreational boating facilities. This giant bay was once an incredibly lush ecosystem but heavy use and fill by industry over the last century has left it one of the most environmentally challenged parts of Lake Ontario. As local government and residents work to restore the bay, places like Bayfront Park appear.

Oh, and you *may* want to know that there have been (very) occasional sightings of a cryptid - so keep your eyes peeled for Lake Ontario's own lake monster!

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Special health or safety status in effect
Special Status
This means the affiliate organization managing a beach has set the beach status based on special local knowledge or information. Check the beach description and the Sources section for details.

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Current Weather

1°C

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Hamilton Public Health Services monitors recreational water quality at sites in this region. The sampling season starts June 1 and ends August 31. Water samples are collected weekly. Water at all sites is sampled for E. coli and Total coliform at all sites. Hamilton Public Health Services issues beach advisories when the geometric mean concentration of at least five samples is at least 200 E. coli / 100 mL of water or when a single sample is at least 400 E. coli / 100 mL of water. This guideline comes from Canada’s Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality (2012). It is applied to beaches in Ontario in accordance with Ontario’s Recreational Water Protocol, 2018. Prior to 2018 beaches in Ontario were posted when the geometric mean of 5 samples collected within a 30-day period exceeded 100 E. coli / 100 mL of water.

Results are posted to Swim Guide as soon as lab results are available. They are also available at https://www.hamilton.ca/parks-recreation/parks-trails-and-beaches/beach-water-quality-in-hamilton.

In Swim Guide, a beach is marked Green when the geometric mean of at least 5 samples is below 200 E.coli / 100 mL water and each individual sample concentration is below 400 E.coli / 100mL.

A beach is marked Red when the results are equal to or above a geometric mean of 200 E.coli / 100 mL water and/or 400 E.coli / 100 mL.

A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.

The Ministry of the Environment F-5-5 Procedure says that a clean beach is open at least 95% of the swimming season, even if it is near a sewage pipe or combined sewer outfall. This rule applies to every place that is public, accessible, and feels like a good place to swim. When all else fails, the Ontario Environmental Protection Act strongly states that no one can interfere with the use that you can make of a public waterway - like swimming!

DISCLAIMER: Historical data from 2017 and prior reflect the previous Ontario standard of a geometric mean of 100 E. coli /100 mL. Historical data from 2018 onward reflect the new Ontario Operational Approaches for Recreational Water Guideline, 2018: Geometric mean concentration 200 E. coli/ 100 mL and single-sample maximum concentration of 400 E. coli /100 mL.

Water Quality Graph