Our Stone

Queenston Limestone is the highest caliber limestone in Canada. A crinoidal calcitic dolomite, Queenston Limestone is a durable building stone with low absorption and porosity. The stone is blue-grey when quarried and weathers to a warm silver-grey within ten years. The stone being quarried today matches the superior quality known to architects, builders and masons for 180 years.

Our History

Stone products have been quarried from the Niagara Escarpment between the communities of Queenston and St. David’s in the Niagara Region for over 200 years. As the people of Southern Ontario and Canada built our modern cities and culture, stone from the Queenston Quarry played a vital structural role. Queenston Limestone provided the comfort of a warm home, memorialized our country’s losses, commemorated our shared victories, carried Ontario’s first railway, and housed the power of government. Read More.

Recent Projects

Queenston limestone was one of the most widely used limestones in Canada and has been utilized in some of our most significant architecture, infrastructure and monuments since pre-confederation. A regimen of repair and maintenance ensures these places will be conserved for the future. Now this important work can once again be completed using Queenson limestone. Recent conservation projects include stairs at West Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa and restoration at the Bank of Montreal, Ottawa. The long history of the use of Queenston limestone in the construction of monuments continues on in the recent Landscape of Nations: The Six Nations and Native Allies Commemorative, Queenston Heights and a memorial to be installed at Decue House Heritage Park, Thorold which celebrates reconciliation with First Nations peoples.

Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Bank of Montreal, Ottawa
Landscape of Nations, Queenston Heights
Queenston Heights
First National Memorial, Decue House Heritage Park, Thorold
Decue House Heritage Park, Thorold

Technical Specifications

Comprehensive Strength

maximum 15625
minimum 14500
average 14900

Absorption

0.81% to 0.91%

Bulk specific gravity

2.62 to 2.66

Weight per cubic foot

163 to 166 pounds

Abrasive hardness

15.4 to 18.7