Port Perry: a lakeside town with green at its edges

Which schools serve the area?

The area is served by both the public and Catholic school systems. In the Durham District School Board, R.H. Cornish Public School (494 Queen St.) and S.A. Cawker Public School (16200 Old Simcoe Rd.) serve elementary grades JK through 8, and students feed into Port Perry High School (160 Rosa St.) for grades 9 to 12. In the Catholic system, Good Shepherd Catholic School (1650 Reach St.) serves junior kindergarten through Grade 8.

School assignment can change; confirm the designated home school with the DDSB Find My School tool.

Is Port Perry a good place to raise a family?

Yes, for most families. The town core is compact and walkable, the DDSB elementary schools (R.H. Cornish and S.A. Cawker) and Good Shepherd Catholic feed into Port Perry High School for grades 9 to 12, and the parks, waterfront trail and green-space lots like the one behind 459 Victoria give kids room to play close to home. Most new neighbours arrive from elsewhere in the GTA.

What does the market look like?

Scugog home prices have moved in a wide band through 2026, cooling from the spring 2025 peak while listings trend higher. Our weekly market update tracks the latest verified figures, and the market guide breaks down the averages and the neighbourhoods street by street.

How do you get to Toronto?

By car, downtown Toronto is about 74 km and roughly 1 hour 15 minutes via Highway 7/12 to the 401. There is no direct train; the usual transit route is a Durham Region Transit / GO bus from Port Perry to Whitby GO, then the Lakeshore East train into Union Station, about 2.5 hours door to door.

How do you actually move here?

Most new neighbours come from elsewhere in the GTA, drawn by the lake, the main street and lots that back onto green space. Our local moving guide covers what it costs, how the commute works, which schools serve which streets, and where to look first.

What keeps people here?

A calm, cottage-country rhythm with real amenities: a vibrant main street, a waterfront trail, summer fairs and festivals, and clubs and sports for every age. Many residents commute to the GTA and come home to a quieter pace.

What's changing in Port Perry?

Two projects are reshaping the edges of town. The Port Perry grain elevator, built in 1873 and the oldest remaining grain elevator in Canada, has a restoration underway after the Township received a $500,000 federal Canadian Heritage Legacy Fund grant in January 2026. A proposed mixed-use subdivision on the west side of town (the Reach Street area, at 1520, 1540 and 1580 Reach St.) would bring roughly 900 to 1,375 new homes and residents plus commercial space, parks and trails; a statutory public meeting was held in June 2026, and a candidate for mayor in the 2026 municipal election has called for the proposal to be deferred or denied. The long-planned downtown Queen Street and Perry Street reconstruction was revised after public and business feedback and is now projected for around 2031, while a $30,000 Heritage Conservation District grant awarded in June 2026 funds facade restoration of the 1884 landmark at 179-191 Queen St.