Canterbury Hills Conference Centre offers an unique, residential setting for your church or professional conference, business seminar, training event, workshop or group retreat or day event.

Canterbury Hills Conference Centre provides delicious home-style meals, comfortable beds, and air-conditioned meeting rooms that combine rustic charm with modern facilities for small or large groups.

Canterbury Hills Conference Centre is situated in the Dundas Valley

on 72 beautiful acres of unique Carolinian Forest, just 18 minutes from downtown Hamilton.

Canterbury Hills Conference Centre is one of Southern Ontario's

leading conferencing facilities.

Canterbury Hills Conference Centre is yours to explore!

Prior to 1935, the 29 hectare (72 acre) site that is now Canterbury Hills Conference Centre was operated as a small mixed farm, the remnants of which are still evidenced by perimeter fencing, a Cart Trail, and a lone apple tree in the middle of our summer camp site. In 1935, the Lions Club of Hamilton purchased the property to build a summer camp for disabled children.

In 1960, during the tenure of Bishop Walter Bagnall, the Anglican Diocese of Niagara purchased the camp from the Lions Club, complete with 13 small cabins and a large summer dining hall (now Lions Hall). The vision of the day was to provide a place where people could "gain new knowledge and new experience of Christian living … see God's purpose related to nature … and develop respect for individual worth". The next summer, 1961, saw the start of our Diocesan summer camping program, with a two-week camp for boys in July and a two-week camp for girls in August, followed the next summer by the construction of additional cabins and the reconstruction of the outdoor chapel. By 1963, co-ed camping was introduced and from 1966-83 Father David Blackwood directed Camp Canterbury Hills.

While children's summer camping has always been a significant focus of Canterbury Hills' ministry, an even greater development and outreach began in 1962 with the construction of a Conference Centre (now Bagnall Lodge) on the east side of the property. Under the leadership of John Bothwell, then Canon Missioner of the Diocese, the centre was built to facilitate "Parish Life Weekends" (a diocesan-wide program of parish vitalization), and to provide a place of quiet retreat on weekdays for parish clergy. In the following year, a residence was built on the old farmhouse site to house the first property manager.

In the late 1970's, Diocesan Synod identified "Education in Faith and Leadership" as a high priority, and moved to establish Canterbury Hills as a year-round fully staffed training and programming centre, from which outreach could be extended to the wider church and community. In 1979, terms of reference and mandate were established for a newly formed Canterbury Hills Committee, and in 1980 the first Director, the Reverend Gavin Barnett, a Registrar, Property Manager, and Cook were hired to begin year-round programming.

Through the 1980's, a Master Plan and Mission Statement were approved; an Associates Program began; the then Wentworth County Board of Education built a schoolhouse (now Asbil Hall) on the property to be used for outdoor education. The camp Senior Staff Cabin (now Artaban Lodge) was winterized; a ropes course, trails, archery range, and observation tower were added to the site; and outside groups began to make use of the facilities as well.

In 1985, Bagnall Lodge converted from oil to a ground-source heat pump as the primary heat source, the office wing and kitchen were expanded, decentralized, child-based Unit Camping was introduced as the signature model for the summer camping program, and 1500 trees were planted on the property. The following year, municipal water was brought on site, and in 1987, the original camp cabins were demolished or relocated, 9 new log cabins were built (6 winterized), and the Reverend Bill Thomas was appointed Director with a renewed mandate to develop all-year programming on both sides of the property. 1988 saw Lions Hall partially winterized, and Canterbury Hills receive a Stewardship Award from Carolinian Canada and the Natural Heritage League for its preservation of its unique Carolinian forest environment "of Natural and Scientific Interest".

From the mid-1980's through 1992, programming expanded enormously, the Adventure Learning Centre and its four months of outdoor leadership training by challenge, Elderhostel events, Vocations conferences and a host of clergy and lay leader support and training events became part of Canterbury Hills offering. In 1993 however, due to Diocesan budget constraints, the decision was made to convert Canterbury Hills from a programming and training centre to a hosting facility. That year, all programming staff positions were eliminated and the school board closed the Outdoor Education Centre and turned the building over to Canterbury Hills. A separate Board of Management was established to replace the Canterbury Hills Committee, a Business and Property Manager was hired, replacing the Director, and in 1994 responsibility for the summer camping program was transferred to the Program Department of the Diocese. At the same time, further winterizing and upgrading of Lions Hall was accomplished, and rooms in Bagnall Lodge were redecorated and camp cabins stained with volunteer help from individual Anglican parishes in the Diocese.

In 1996, the Reverend Rick Jones was appointed part-time Director of Canterbury Hills. That year, one of the summer staff buildings (now Blackwood Lodge) was winterized and became a permanent staff residence. 1997 saw an interior refurbishing of Bagnall Lodge that included new beds, carpet and windows for Chapel of St. Francis-in-the-Woods and winged-back chairs for the fireside area. In 1998, the outdoor chapel on the camp side (St. Clare Chapel) was rebuilt and rededicated by the Rt. Rev. Ralph Spence, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, as a symbol of a new emphasis on Christian formation and outreach for Canterbury Hills.

In 1999, the manager's residence was renovated and dedicated as Bothwell House, a small group lodge and retreat facility which gave client groups the option of self-catering on site. That same year, the Reverend David Linn was appointed full-time Director of Canterbury Hills.

Beginning in 1998-99 with a survey of the needs of client groups, a scope statement for the redevelopment of Bagnall Lodge was produced and preliminary investigations undertaken. Moving on into 2000, an architect was chosen and the process of obtaining a Niagara Escarpment Development Permit was begun.