The best golf courses in Ontario and British Columbia

Ontario and British Columbia hold the largest share of Canadian golf, and they offer two entirely different games: parkland and links-influenced layouts around the Great Lakes, mountain and ocean golf on the west coast. Here is how to think about each.

Ontario: volume, and the Toronto problem

Ontario has more courses than any other province and the highest demand for them. Around Toronto, weekend mornings from June to August are effectively spoken for, and the best public courses release tee times on fixed windows that fill within minutes.

Two practical answers. First, drive: an hour out of the city, the same standard of golf is bookable the same day and costs considerably less. Second, play the shoulder: May and October in southern Ontario deliver good conditions and half the price.

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, in Caledon, hosts the RBC Canadian Open from 10 to 14 June 2026, which tells you what the public golf at the top end of the province looks like.

British Columbia: mountains, ocean and a longer season

The BC season is the longest in the country. On Vancouver Island and parts of the Lower Mainland, golf is playable most of the year, which is why the province absorbs so much winter play from the prairies.

The Okanagan is the destination region: desert-influenced courses, lake views, and a summer that runs hot and dry. Whistler holds a cluster of mountain courses within a short drive of each other, which makes it the easiest golf base in the province.

What to play if you have three days

In Ontario: one round in the Toronto area on a top public course, one an hour out for value and space, and one on a links-influenced layout near the lakes for contrast.

In British Columbia: one round in the Okanagan for the scenery, one in Whistler for mountain golf, and one on the coast. The driving between them is real, so pick two regions rather than three.

How these courses play

Ontario’s better public courses stretch past 6,800 yards from the back tees and play every yard of it in soft spring conditions.

Ontario parkland golf is tree-lined and often soft in spring, which means the ball stops and the wedge game matters. BC mountain golf adds altitude and elevation change: the ball flies further in thinner air and downhill tee shots fly further still.

On any mountain course, play the first round without counting and note the actual distances. It is worth several shots on the second day.

Booking, in both provinces

Learn the booking window at your two or three preferred courses and set a reminder for the hour it opens. Take twilight rates seriously: in a Canadian summer there is enough light after 5pm for a full round in most of the country.

And ring the pro shop for cancellations, which almost never reappear online.

Before you go

• Check the season dates: BC coastal courses are open far longer than anything in Ontario, and mountain courses open late.
• Compare shoulder-season rates with peak: the gap on the same course is frequently the largest saving available.
• Confirm cart policy, which varies and changes the total cost significantly.

Green fees vary by season, day and region. Confirm the figure with the course when you book.