St Catharines, Ontario
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in
Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...
, south of
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
across
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
, and is inland from the international boundary with the United States along the
Niagara River The Niagara River ( ) flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The origin of the river's name is debated. Iroquoian scholar Bruce T ...
. It is the northern entrance of the
Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller, Ontario, Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lak ...
. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails. St. Catharines is between the
Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) is an urban conurbation that is composed of some of the largest cities and metropolitan areas by population in the Canadian province of Ontario. The GTHA consists of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and ...
(GTHA) and the Canada–U.S. border at Fort Erie. Manufacturing was the city's dominant industry, as noted by the heraldic motto, "Industry and Liberality". General Motors of Canada, Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
, was the city's largest employer, a distinction now held by the District School Board of Niagara. THK Rhythm Automotive, formerly TRW, operates a plant in the city, although in recent years, employment there has shifted from
heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...
and manufacturing to services. St. Catharines lies on one of the main telecommunications backbones between Canada and the United States, and as a result a number of call centres operate in the city. It is designated an Urban Growth Centre by the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, intended to achieve a minimum density target of 150 jobs and residents combined per hectare by 2032 or earlier. St. Catharines is also home to
Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...
.


History


Early history

The
Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...
speaking Chonnonton peoples who were also known as the "people of the deer" lived in the region. The Chonnonton would grow vegetables like corn, beans, and squash while living in
longhouses A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often re ...
. In 1647 the Seneca conquered Chonnonton villages from east of the Niagara River. The
Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
then destroyed the villages in the 1650s. After these attacks and smallpox epidemics, the Chonnontons disappeared completely, with the last recorded appearance of them in 1671 by French explorers. St. Catharines falls within the original territory of the
Mississaugas The Mississaugas are a group of First Nations peoples located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are a sub-group of the Ojibwe Nation. Etymology The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word ''Misi-zaagiing'', meaning " hose at theGr ...
. A treaty signed in 1782 between the Mississaugas and the British government ceded a large tract of land, which included the St. Catharines area, to the Crown for the purpose of European settlement. St. Catharines was settled by
Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
in the 1780s. The Crown granted land in compensation for services and for losses in the United States. Early histories credit the Loyalists Serjeant Jacob Dittrick and Private John Hainer as among the first settlers to come to the area in 1790. They took their Crown Patents, where Dick's Creek and 12 Mile Creek merge, which is now the city centre of St. Catharines. Historians have speculated that Dick's Creek was named after Richard Pierpoint, a
Black Loyalist Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term referred to men enslaved by Patriots who served on the Loyalist side because of the Crown's guarantee of fr ...
and former American slave, from an oral history account and events that had taken place around that time that would be consistent with him being the source of the name. Secondary to water routes, indigenous trails provided transportation networks, which resulted in the nearby radial road patterns. The surrounding land was surveyed, and ownships were created between 1787 and 1789. After the
Butler's Rangers Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. T ...
disbanded in 1784 and settled the area, Duncan Murray, as a former quartermaster in the 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants), was appointed by the Crown to distribute free government supplies (victuals) for two years to the resettled Loyalists. He did this from his mill, built on the 12 Mile Creek in Power Glen. After his death in 1786, his holdings were forfeited to the merchant Robert Hamilton of Queenston, who tried to operate for profit the well-established Murray's Distribution Centre and Mill under the management of his cousin. Among other ventures, Hamilton became land wealthy by expropriating lands from subsistence Loyalist settlers who were incapable of settling their debts. Murray's distribution centre, later Hamilton's warehouse, and its location have long been a mystery. Hamilton's major profits were derived from transhipping supplies for the military and civic establishments from his
Queenston Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the eponym ...
enterprise, not from charitably supplying the subsistence Loyalist settlers. Hamilton lacked interest in social development and sold his business to Jesse Thompson before the turn of the 19th century. The Merritt family arrived after this time and was among the later Loyalists to relocate after the American Revolution. They were from the
Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the southwes ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, and
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
. In 1796, Thomas Merritt arrived to build on his relationship with his former Commander and Queen's Ranger,
John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...
, who was now the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. The first
Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller, Ontario, Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lak ...
was constructed from 1824 to 1833. William Hamilton Merritt worked to promote the ambitious venture by raising funds and enlisting government support. The canal established St. Catharines as the hub of commerce and industry for the
Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...
. Merritt played a role in making St. Catharines a centre of
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
activity. In 1855, the
British Methodist Episcopal Church, Salem Chapel The British Methodist Episcopal (BME) Church, Salem Chapel was founded in 1820 Church pamphlet by African-American freedom seekers in St. Catharines, Ontario. It is located at 92 Geneva St., in the heart of Old St. Catharines. The church is a va ...
; was established at the corner of Geneva and North Streets on land granted to the congregation by Merritt in the early 1840s. The area became known to refugee slaves from the United States as a place of "refuge and rest;" it was a destination, one of the final stops in Canada on the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
for African-American refugees fleeing slavery. The abolitionist
Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, us ...
then lived in St. Catharines. By the mid-1850s, the town's population was about 6,000, of whom 800 were of African descent. St. Catharines remains an important place in Black Canadian history. At an unknown early date, an inn was built by Thomas Adams on the east side of what is now Ontario Street. It became a community meeting place, election centre, stagecoach stop, and mail delivery deposit. That had been preceded by the church and a log school house completed before 1797, all on the east bank of the 12 Mile Creek, at the extreme west end of what was then known as Main Street. It was an extension of the old Iroquois Trail and was renamed St. Paul Street by the settlers and their descendants by the mid-19th century. Later, several mills, salt works, numerous retail outlets, a ship building yard, distillery, and various other businesses were developed. Incorporated as a village in 1845, St. Catharines had a population of about 3,500 in 1846. The primary industry was flour milling. Other industry included ship repairs, four grist mills, a brewery, three distilleries, a tannery, a foundry, a machine, and a pump factory. There were a variety of tradesmen, three bank agencies, and eight taverns. Stage coaches offered service to other towns and villages. There were already six churches or chapels, a post office that received mail daily, a grammar school, and a weekly newspaper. St. Catharines was incorporated as a city in 1876. The city expanded when it annexed Grantham Township, Merritton, and Port Dalhousie. There was some westward expansion, which was divided between St. Catharines and Lincoln.


Origin of name

Before it was called St. Catharines, the settlement near Twelve Mile Creek was known by various names, including Shipman's Corners and The Twelve. The name St. Catharines was first recorded in 1796, as St. Catherines, and became a common name for the settlement by 1809, but it would often be spelled with ''-er-'' or with an apostrophe before the ''-s''. The name and the spelling were standardized as St. Catharines when the town incorporated in 1845. The Catherine after which the city is named is unclear. Common theories include
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess a ...
, Catherine Butler (wife of Colonel John Butler), and Catherine Askin Hamilton (wife of Robert Hamilton). Catharine Rodman Prendergast Merritt, wife of William Hamilton Merritt, may be the source of the -ar spelling. An alternate theory to explain the spelling was that Catharine with an ''-ar'' was the typical spelling of the name for Palatine German settlers in the region.


Geography


Climate

St. Catharines' climate is
humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
borderline ''Dfa''/''Dfb''). It has a unique micro-climate because of the moderating influence of
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
/
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...
and the sheltering effect of the
Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...
to the south. This climate allows wineries to flourish. As a result, the city records numerous frost-free days and frequent thaws in the winter, although it sometimes receives heavy
lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...
during certain wind conditions, and micro-cooling lakeside on some spring afternoons. The summer season is predominantly warm, sometimes hot and humid, with an average high temperature of in July. Summer thunderstorms are commonplace but generally less prevalent and less severe than farther west in southern Ontario due to the diminishing effect of the surrounding lakes. The highest temperature ever recorded in St. Catharines was on 10 July 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 18 February 1979.


Communities

St. Catharines' development history has resulted in a number of unique and distinct communities within the city. The historical area of St. Catharines consisted of nothing more than what is now the downtown core, with the remaining land being part of Louth Township on the west and Grantham Township on the east. St. Catharines continued to steadily grow through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eventually annexing land to the southwest that would become Western Hill and Old Glenridge, and to the east and north that would collectively become the central part of St. Catharines. In addition to the growth of St. Catharines, the town of Merritton and the town of Port Dalhousie existed as separate municipalities to the south and north of the city, each slowly growing their own residential base. Along with the rest of Ontario, St. Catharines experienced explosive growth after World War II. St. Catharines continued to annex Grantham Township as development continued, including the large swaths of land to the north known now as " The North End". St. Catharines would also absorb Merritton and Port Dalhousie in 1961, making them part of the city. During this time, St. Catharines nearly tripled in population. With the formation of the
Regional Municipality of Niagara The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality in southern Ontario, Canada, which occupies most of the Niagara Peninsula. As of 2024, the region had an estimate ...
in 1970, the portion of Louth Township east of Fifteen Mile Creek was transferred to the City of St. Catharines. This included the eastern portion of the Hamlet of Rockway, as well as the Hamlet of Power Glen. The few remaining portions of Grantham Township in the Northeast corner of the area, including Port Weller, were also transferred to the city. With the new Louth Township lands belonging to the city, St. Catharines would begin two developments in the west end — Martindale Road in 1983, and Vansickle Road in 1987. These developments are nearing completion. There was also a push to continue further expansion to the west in the late 1990s, but this has since been halted by Ontario Greenbelt legislation. The following distinct communities exist within St. Catharines: * Carlton - Bunting * Grantham * Port Dalhousie * Lakeshore * Port Weller * Facer * Lancaster * Michigan Beach * The North End * St. George's Point * Kernahan * Merritton * Oakdale * Secord Woods * Queenston * Fitzgerald * Haig * Orchard Park * Downtown St. Catharines * Barbican Heights * Brockview * Glenridge * Marsdale * Riverview * Louth * Martindale Heights * Power Glen * Vansickle * Western Hill


Downtown

Numerous efforts have been made to improve the downtown; the restructuring of manufacturing resulted in a loss of jobs and retail businesses. In the early 21st century, city, university, and private developers undertook several initiatives to revive downtown, related to urban design, clustering activities to attract people to the area as a destination from day through evening events. In 2006, city council approved converting one-way arteries through the city centre to allow for two-way traffic, to make it easier for people to make their way around the city to explore it. In terms of urban planning and use, two-way traffic improves circulation within the area. The city wanted to improve downtown as a destination, rather than a place to pass through. The council also want to have downtown St. Catharines on the Wine Route, a driving tour of Niagara wineries and an Ontario Wine Council initiative to boost the number of visitors to the region's many wineries. The Wine Route was modified to officially redirect winery goers through the downtown starting in 2012. The first phase of two-way traffic was completed in 2009, with St. Paul and King streets being converted. The cost of the conversion was $3.5 million and was shared with Niagara Region. In 2012, most observers concluded that the change had achieved its goals; it garnered national media attention. In 2009, $54 million in joint federal, provincial and municipal funding was announced for the construction of a performing arts centre in the city's core, officially opened in September 2015 as the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. Complementing the centre, which features concert, dance and film venues, is
Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...
's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. The university renovated the former Canada Hair Cloth Building to use for the school. This former industrial building is behind St. Paul Street and next to the municipal performing arts centre. In late 2011, city council approved moving forward with the construction of a new spectator facility to replace the crumbling Garden City Arena Complex, built in 1938. Council voted to build a U-shaped facility, which will be home to the Niagara IceDogs, an Ontario Hockey League team, and be able to host other events, such as concerts. It would have room for 4,500 to 5,300 spectators. The goal is to keep the cost of the facility at or below $50 million and to build it on a swath of land known locally as the lower-level parking lot, behind St. Paul Street and abutting Highway 406. Council's commitment to build the facility resulted in IceDogs' owner Bill Burke promising to sign a 20-year lease with the city after he threatened to move his team if the city chose not to build a new arena. The city has made other infrastructure improvements to the downtown. In January 2012, a new edition of the Carlisle Street Parking Garage opened. It was built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards and was certified for its environmentally friendly features, including a
green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
, preferred carpool and
hybrid vehicle A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids. Hybrid powertrai ...
parking, greywater collection, permeable interlocking brick pavement, and several bike racks for users. A mixed-use development, the structure was planned for retail space at street level on Carlisle Street, in order to promote activity and business on the street. The project cost $27.9 million, with funding split three ways between the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Starting in 2019, certain streets located in downtown St. Catharines have been closed during weekends to vehicle traffic. These
pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...
s have expanded over time. $214,500 (~$ in ) was allocated in the city's budget in 2021 for these road closures. In 2023, this initiative was discontinued.


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
, St. Catharines had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. At the
census metropolitan area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...
(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the St. Catharines - Niagara CMA had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Since 1998, St. Catharines has had one of the highest obesity rates of any centre in Canada. A 2001 analysis by
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
showed that 57.3 percent of its residents were overweight. This caused the media, including CTV, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
and ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' to dub St. Catharines as Canada's "fattest" city. In 2008, new statistics were released that show that the percentage of obese or obese/overweight residents of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
(74.3%),
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
(70.1%), and
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...
(70%) is now higher than St. Catharines-Niagara (69.3%), though the obesity rate in St. Catharines was higher in 2008 than in 1998. 23% of children in St. Catharines were estimated to be living in
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
as of 2015, which was above Canada's average rate of
child poverty Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It is esti ...
. In 2022, the municipality itself as an employer became the largest in Ontario to offer a living wage, an action praised by the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network.


Ethnicity

As of the 2021 Census, 16.5% of residents were
visible minorities In Canada, a visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada ...
, 2.5% had Indigenous identity, and the remaining 81.0% were White. The largest visible minority groups were Black (4.1%), South Asian (2.5%), Latin American (2.3%), Chinese (1.6%), Filipino (1.5%) and Arab (1.3%). *Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.


Religion

In 2021, 58.3% of residents were Christians, down from 71.8% in 2011. 25.8% of residents were
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, 17.8% were
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
, 9.4% were Christians of unspecified denomination, 1.3% were Christian Orthodox, and 3.9 were other Christian/Christian related traditions. 35.9% of the population had were irreligious or secular, up from 24.5% in 2011. All other religions/spiritual traditions made up 5.8% of the population. The largest non-Christian religions were
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(3.4%),
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
(0.6%), and
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
(0.6%).


Economy

Tourism was considered to be an influential factor in
Conference Board of Canada The Conference Board of Canada is an independent, non-profit applied-research organization based in Canada. It aims to help Canada's leaders make informed, evidence-based decisions using non-partisan and non-ideological analysis. The organiza ...
's projected GDP growth for St. Catharines. Its economy is affected by the millions of tonnes of cargo shipped through the Welland Canal, as well as 140 industrial buildings based in the city. In 2023, waste management company Ssonix Products had an explosion that killed an employee. A year later, firefighters began an audit of hazardous materials contained in the city's buildings. St. Catharines was the location of a transmission plant for
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
. The 20 hectare property where the factory once operated is now classified as a contaminated
brownfield Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...
. In 2025, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario ordered the city to release reports regarding the extent of the environmental contamination on the site.
Lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
,
trichloroethylene Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an organochloride with the formula C2HCl3, commonly used as an industrial metal-degreasing solvent. It is a clear, colourless, non-flammable, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like pleasant mild smell and sweet taste.
,
benzene Benzene is an Organic compound, organic chemical compound with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar hexagonal Ring (chemistry), ring with one hyd ...
, and
polychlorinated biphenyl Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organochlorine compounds with the formula Carbon, C12Hydrogen, H10−''x''Chloride, Cl''x''; they were once widely used in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper, as heat transfer fluids, and as dielectri ...
s were present beyond safe limits. The city previously refused freedom of information requests by residents due to concerns that the report could harm General Motor's reputation.


Arts and culture


Theatre

St. Catharines is also home to a variety of theatre companies. These companies include Garden City Productions (formerly the Operatic Society of Grantham United Church 1956–1962), Carousel Players (in the Old Courthouse), Mirror Theatre, Essential Collectives Theatre, and the Empty Box Theatre Company. In 2015, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre opened. In 2016, the ''Film House'' launched within the space, featuring cinema screenings with themed or genre-specific nights.


Events

The Grape and Wine Festival Parade is held annually each September. More than 100,000 people were anticipated for the 2022 event. The International Chicken Chucking Championships takes place every January in the St. Catharines neighbourhood of Port Dalhousie and attracts hundreds of participants and observers.Walter, Karena (17 January 2009)
Time for a poultry-pitching party"
The St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
Chicken Chucking consists of pitching or sliding frozen chickens along the ice-covered Martindale Pond and is hosted by the Kilt and Clover. Animal rights groups such as Niagara Action for Animals have protested the event. Proceeds from the event are donated to Community Care, a local food bank. St. Catharines was one of the cities that hosted the 2022 Canada Summer Games. More than 5,000 athletes and coaches arrived for the games, which took place from August 6 to August 21, 2022. The opening ceremony was held at the Meridian Centre.


Attractions

* Lakeside Park Carousel – historic carousel located in Port Dahousie * St. Catharines Museum – located at Lock 3 of the Welland Canal * Morningstar Mill – heritage site and mill * Pen Centre – a regional shopping centre * The St. Catharines Armoury is a recognized Federal Heritage building, #1991 on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.


Parks

* Montebello Park: Designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...
in 1887, who was renowned for designing and developing New York City's
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
in 1853. A commemorative rose garden, with over 1,300 bushes in 25 varieties, is the city's largest rose collection; it features an ornamental fountain. The focal point of the park is a band shell and pavilion built in 1888. The park is designated under the ''
Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Canadian Province of Ontario, as being of cultural heritage ...
''. * Lakeside Park: Located in the North end, along the shores of Lake Ontario in the community known as Port Dalhousie. Hosts yearly fireworks displays on 1 July (Canada Day). Has picnic areas, a pavilion, snack bar, change rooms, washrooms, playground equipment, boardwalk, the Lakeside Park Carousel, and public docks for visiting boaters. The beach offers magnificent sunset views over Lake Ontario. Lakeside Park inspired a
song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
by the rock band Rush which describes the park itself and drummer/lyricist
Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart ( ; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian and American musician, known as the drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush (band), Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname "the Profe ...
's memories there. * Burgoyne Woods: A 50-hectare (0.5 km2) wooded area and recreational park near the Downtown core. It also contains a dog park and is the host of annual cross country races within the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) and the
Niagara Catholic District School Board The Niagara Catholic District School Board (Niagara Catholic, previously known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 50 prior to 1998) is the publicly funded Catholic school board in the Regional Municipality of Niagara which is ...
(NCDSB). * Happy Rolph's Bird Sanctuary: A 6-hectare (0.06 km2) park on the shores of
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
in the community of Port Weller. It is home to hundreds of native and migratory birds and features an exotic collection of flowering
rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
s. An onsite petting farm (containing horses, pigs, sheep, goats and llamas, as well as a donkey named 'Hoti'—'Don Quixote') is operated by the city from
Victoria Day Victoria Day () is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Vic ...
to
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
weekend. A trail running throughout the park leads to a peaceful waterfront memorial to Canadian victims of the
9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
terrorist attacks. * Ontario Jaycee Gardens: Overlooking the Henley Rowing Course, this is the city's largest horticultural park, with more than 8 hectares (0.08 km2) of meticulously landscaped gardens and flower displays. Among the displays is a memorial site dedicated to Kristen French. The park exists on land that once featured the Third Welland Canal. The former entrance to the canal can still be seen at the north-west end of the park. * Walker Arboretum: Located along the hillside of Rodman Hall and the Twelve Mile Creek below, the original owner of this estate was Thomas Rodman Merritt, son of William Hamilton Merritt. In the late 19th century, an English
landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...
er named Samuel Richardson was hired by Merritt to tend the grounds. As a result, the
arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
is an extensive, rambling garden with rare
conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...
which benefit from an exceptional micro-climate. It boasts one of the largest Chinese
Empress tree ''Paulownia tomentosa'', common names princess tree, empress tree, or foxglove-tree, is a deciduous hardwood tree in the family (biology), family Paulowniaceae, native to central and eastern China and the Korean Peninsula. It is an extremely fas ...
s in Canada. * Woodgale Park: Located along Glendale Avenue between Glenridge Avenue and the Pen Centre. Features wide open spaces, flowing fruit trees, rare birds, a soccer field and tennis courts. Also features a memorial to the original farm building on the north end of the park near Denis Morris Catholic High School. Locally known as Doug Hill Park, after a nearby resident who coached a number of baseball and tug of war teams in this area.


Trail system

The city's trail system offers over 90 kilometres (55 mi) of accessible pathways that are suitable for walking, jogging, cycling, hiking and cross-country skiing. * Bruce Trail: Canada's oldest and longest hiking trail, following the
Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...
(designated as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Biosphere Reserve site) from
Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...
to Tobermory. A 20-kilometre (12 mi) section with associated side trails winds through St. Catharines passing by places such as the Morningstar Mill. * Merritt Trail: a segmented 11 km (6.8 mi) trail that passes many of the old sections of the second Welland Canal and remnants of its locks. * Laura Secord Legacy Trail – a trail that was established to commemorate Laura Secord's 32 km walk to warn of an upcoming American attack during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. *
Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...
Trail: a 1.5 km trail that runs along Carlon Street and Geneva Street. Six exercise stations are placed throughout it. *
Waterfront Trail The Great Lakes Waterfront Trail is a signed route of roads and trails in Ontario, Canada, running between Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie and the Quebec border following the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. The trail connects ov ...
: follows the shore of Lake Ontario, connecting communities from Niagara-on-the-Lake to
Brockville Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It is included with Leeds and ...
. The Port Dalhousie portion of the trail is a major highlight. * Welland Canals Parkway Trail: The trail is 45 km, stretching from St. Catharines to
Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...
.


Sports


Ice hockey

St. Catharines entered into the
Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...
Junior 'A' Hockey in 1943 as the St. Catharines Falcons. In 1947, they became the Teepees and were affiliated with the
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
's
Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
. When the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
's (NHL)
Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...
made the Bisons their number one farm team, they inherited the Teepees. In the 1960s, the Jr. 'A' team went deeply into debt to the Chicago Black Hawks, but continued as a successful franchise and were named the St. Catharines Black Hawks. The
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
Fincups moved to St. Catharines in 1976 and played here for one year before moving back to Hamilton. The AHL St. Catharines Saints played in St. Catharines between 1982 and 1986, before being forced to re-locate to Newmarket due to protests from the NHL
Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...
. The St. Catharines Saints served as the
farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...
for the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
, and today are known as the
Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a c ...
. In 2007, the OHL's Mississauga IceDogs relocated to St. Catharines and became the Niagara IceDogs. The IceDogs played out of the Jack Gatecliff Arena, which was renamed the Gatorade Garden City Complex (since renamed Garden City Arena Complex). In 2014, the IceDogs moved to the newly built Meridian Centre. Since starting out the team has won the
Emms Trophy The Emms Trophy is presented annually to the regular season champion of the Central division in the Ontario Hockey League. The trophy was inaugurated in the 1975–76 season for the winner of the Emms division, the more westerly of the two division ...
in 2010–2011 & 2018–2019. They have also won the Bobby Orr Trophy during 2011–2012 season and 2015–2016 season, qualifying for the OHL Finals. They would be beaten both times by the
London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...
. The team has had numerous NHL alumni including Alex Pietrangelo, Dougie Hamilton, Vince Dunn, Ryan Strome, Akil Thomas, Jason Robertson and Alex Nedeljkovic. The current St. Catharines Falcons team plays in the Golden Horseshoe Division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team has played since 1968 and plays all home games out of the Jack Gatecliff Arena. The team were runners up for the
Sutherland Cup The Sutherland Cup is the ice hockey Ontario Junior "B" Provincial Championship trophy. The trophy was first awarded in 1934, and named in honour of former OHA and CAHA president, James T. Sutherland. The Sutherland Cup is now the championshi ...
in 1979, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2014, but won the cup in 2012.


Basketball

In 2015, the
National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; ) was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchis ...
announced that Niagara had been awarded a new franchise to play in the Meridian Centre. The team, named the Niagara River Lions, began play in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
where they reached the conference quarterfinals. The team joined the
Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...
after the 2017–18 season. In 2021, the River Lions had one of their best seasons, finishing 2nd with a 10–4 record. The River Lions made it through the playoffs into the finals, where they lost 65–101 to the
Edmonton Stingers The Edmonton Stingers are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the HIVE arena at the Edmonton Expo Centre. The Stingers' masc ...
. In 2024, the River Lions Captured their 1st CEBL Championship with a 97-95 win over the Vancouver Bandits. The River Lions finished 14-6 led by a perfect 11-0 Home record.


Baseball

The city was the home of the
New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...
's St. Catharines Blue Jays, the Short-season A affiliate of the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
, from 1986 to 1999. In 1996 the team was renamed the St. Catharines Stompers, and was subsequently sold and relocated to
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, New York City in late 1999, where they became the Queens Kings.


Rugby

St. Catharines Tigers RFC was formed in 1978. Beginning in 2015, the Tigers joined the Niagara Wasps RFC and play at their field in Thorold.


Soccer

Minor league soccer arrived to St. Catharines in 1971, when St. Catharines Heidelberg received a franchise in the
National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
(NSL). Heidelberg played in the league for eight seasons, leaving in 1979. The city received another team in the NSL, with St. Catharines Roma Wolves acquiring Welland Lions Croatia's franchise rights in 1977. St. Catharines Roma competed in the NSL until the 1997 season, and continued playing in the NSL's successor league, the Canadian Professional Soccer League (later renamed
Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...
) in 1998. St. Catharines' most successful era was in the 1990s, when the club won several championships, including a league
double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...
in 1995. The club found further success in the CPSL and won two championships. In 2014, the club would leave the CSL circuit. In 2021, St. Catharines Wolves returned to the semi-professional level by joining
League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...
with Club Roma as their home venue.


Rowing

Martindale Pond in St. Catharines' Port Dalhousie is the site of the annual Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, a world-class event that brings over 3,000 athletes from various nations to the city. The site hosted the
FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.
World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...
in
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
and in
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
. More recently, the World Master's Rowing Championship was held at the Martindale Pond in the summer of 2010, with $500,000 (~$ in ) in improvements to the facility such as: a weed harvester, new docking and a new timing system. There are currently talks to bring the Canadian Rowing Hall of Fame to St. Catharines sometime in the near future. The pond is also home to the St. Catharines rowing club,
Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...
rowing club,
Ridley College Ridley College may refer to * Ridley College (Melbourne), Victoria, Australia * Ridley College (Ontario), Canada See also * Ridley Hall, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK * * Ridley (disambiguation) {{schooldis ...
rowing club and to the annual CSSRA Championships, which draws hundreds of high school athletes from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The Martindale Pond or Henley, continues to hold its world-renowned status as a major rowing venue in the world. The rowing event in the
Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...
were held in St. Catharines in 2015. Several Olympic medallists in rowing are from St. Catharines, including Melanie Kok, Buffy Williams, and Dave Boyes. St Catharines hosted the 2024 World Rowing Championships.


Sailing

There are marinas at Port Dalhousie and Port Weller and a club that sails from Municipal Beach. The St. Catharines Marina is at Port Weller. The Port Dalhousie Pier Marina and the Port Dalhousie Yacht Club are at Port Dalhousie.


Government


Municipal

St. Catharines is governed by a mayor and city council of twelve city councillors, with two councillors representing each of the six municipal
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
s in the city. A city councillor is also elected by the council as a whole to serve as deputy mayor, who only fills the role should the elected mayor not be available. St. Catharines City Council meets every Monday and is open to participation by the community. Matters put forward are voted on by members of city council; the mayor presides over council debate and serves very much like the speaker, and as a result only votes in the case of a tie. After 2006, municipal elections will be in November every four years rather than the previous three. Unlike most cities its size, city councillors only serve on a part-time basis and continue with their non-political careers in the community. Only the mayor is elected to a full-time position. St. Catharines City Hall is downtown on Church Street. Tim Rigby was the Mayor of St. Catharines from 1997 to 2006; Brian McMullan was elected to succeed Rigby on 13 November 2006, and was sworn in on 4 December. He was re-elected in October 2010. On 27 October 2014, Walter Sendzik was elected mayor of St. Catharines and assumed office in December 2014. St. Catharines uses a council-manager government, and as a result a chief administrative officer (CAO) is appointed by council to oversee the day-to-day operations of the city and its departments. The CAO, in effect, is the highest ranking municipal civil servant and has authority over the spending of municipal tax dollars. The CAO advises council on policy matters and acts as liaison between the administrative staff and elected officials. Some of the CAOs duties include assisting in the creation of the municipal budget, and ensuring that municipal funds are spent in a responsible manner. Residents of St. Catharines also elect six regional councillors to the
Niagara Regional Council The Niagara Regional Council is the governing body of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of ...
on an at-large basis. Unlike many other regional municipalities in Ontario, regional councillors do not sit on city council and instead only represent at the regional level. Four school board trustees for the District School Board of Niagara representing St. Catharines and
Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...
are elected, as well as three trustees for the
Niagara Catholic District School Board The Niagara Catholic District School Board (Niagara Catholic, previously known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 50 prior to 1998) is the publicly funded Catholic school board in the Regional Municipality of Niagara which is ...
, two for five of St. Catharines' wards, and one for
Thorold Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first surv ...
and the Merriton Ward of St. Catharines. Regional councillors and school board trustees are elected at the same time, and on the same ballot, as the mayor and city councillors. St. Catharines has one of the lowest resident/representative ratios of any large city in Ontario. There are just under 7,000 people per elected municipal representative in St. Catharines, while
Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...
(a similar-sized city in Ontario) has one representative per 13,500 people.
London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
, has one representative per 30,500 people and
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
has one representative per 111,774 people. There has been discussion regarding a modification of the city/regional council arrangement, with the possibility of reducing city council to six full-time representatives and having the six regional councillors serve on city council. While there is growing support in the business community for such an arrangement, city council has been unreceptive to such ideas.


Provincial

At the provincial level,
St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...
is well known for electing high-profile members of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...
. Jim Bradley was the Member of Provincial Parliament for St. Catharines from 1977 until 2018 and was Ontario's longest serving MPP. Peter Kormos, who represented the southern portions of the city as part of the Welland riding, was a prominent Member of Provincial Parliament in the
Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...
caucus and served previously as Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations in the
Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...
government. From 1999 to 2003, during the premierships of
Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...
and
Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership up ...
, St. Catharines was the only large city in Ontario to not have at least one government member representing the city, as the Progressive Conservative-held ridings of Lincoln and St. Catharines—Brock were eliminated as a cost-saving measure. Robert Welch, a long-time Deputy Premier of Ontario, represented the now-eliminated Lincoln and St. Catharines—Brock ridings throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.


Federal

Federally,
St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...
is one of the most
bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...
of any riding in Canada, having only elected an opposition MP twice in its history.
Chris Bittle Christopher Joseph Bittle (born February 17, 1979) is a Canadian Liberal politician who was elected to represent the riding of St. Catharines in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election. He currently serves as the Parli ...
is the current MP for St. Catharines and is a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...
, which currently forms Canada's government. Most federal representatives from St. Catharines have maintained a low profile on either the government or opposition backbenches. The exception was Gilbert Parent, who served as
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...
for seven years while
Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...
was Prime Minister.


Legal

St. Catharines is the judicial seat of the Niagara North Judicial District of Ontario, Central South Region, which represents the northern half of the Niagara Region equivalent to historic Lincoln County. The Superior Court of Justice is on Church Street across from City Hall. A satellite court is in
Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...
. The city forms "1 District" of the
Niagara Regional Police Service The Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) is a Regional police#Canada, regional police service maintained by the Regional Municipality of Niagara in the Canadian province of Ontario. As of 2021, the force employed 774 sworn police officers and 3 ...
. The NRPS headquarters are no longer on Church Street, having moved to Niagara Falls in a finally constructed new building with administrative offices and support services on Cushman Road.


Infrastructure


Transportation

The most defining transportation icon of St. Catharines is the Welland Canal, a
ship canal A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Definition Ship canals can be distinguished from barge canals, which are intended to carry barges and other vessel ...
that runs 43.4 kilometres (27.0 mi), passing through the city. Four of its locks are within city boundaries. The canal allows shipping vessels to traverse the 99.5-metre (326.5 ft) drop in altitude from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Garden City Skyway is a nearby bridge that facilitates vehicle traffic into the city. The main access routes into and out of St. Catharines are served by two major
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
s. The
Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highways, 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The highway begins at the Canada–United States border on the Pea ...
runs east (at 15-Mile Creek) to west (at Garden City Skyway) and Highway 406 runs north (at QEW) to south (at St. David's Road). Prior to the construction of these freeways, St. Paul Street (former Highway 8, now Regional Road 81) and Hartzel Road (former Highway 58, now a city-maintained street) provided east–west and north–south access to the city. Public transportation is served by the St. Catharines Transit Commission, which operates bus routes throughout the city and neighbouring Thorold. All major routes converge at the St. Catharines Bus Terminal, which is downtown within the headquarters of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The central station is also served by Coach Canada, with service to Toronto and Niagara Falls. Though transportation by rail is becoming increasingly popular, the St. Catharines train station is largely under-utilized, with car and bus travel being the dominant forms of transportation for the city. The station is in its original building, outside the downtown core (because of issues involving the crossing of 12-Mile Creek). It is served daily by
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
trains connecting it to
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The provincial and federal government recently committed $385 million each to
GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
to aid in the development of their 10-Year Capital Expansion Plan, which includes an expansion bus line servicing the Niagara Region. Currently, regular GO Bus service exists to St. Catharines with a stop at Fairview Mall, allowing riders to travel either west toward Burlington or east toward Niagara Falls. A rail link with GO Transit operates during the summer months with plans for the city to be permanently linked via rail in the future. St. Catharines/Niagara District Airport services
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
as well as chartered
jetliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly cla ...
flights. The airport is served by charter flights from FlyGTA Airlines and offers charter flights to
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto C ...
, Muskoka and Collingwood. It is near the city's east-end in neighbouring
Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...
. Other airports surrounding the city include Niagara Falls/Niagara South Airport and Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport. The closest airports in proximity offering long-haul and international flights are
John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport , or simply Hamilton Airport, is an international airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The airport is part of the neighbourhood of Mount Hope, southwest of Downtown Hamilton and southwest of Tor ...
, Niagara Falls International Airport and
Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...
. St. Catharines had one of the first
interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...
electric
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
routes, which ran between the city and Merritton and was eventually extended to Port Dalhousie in the north and
Thorold Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first surv ...
to the south. Like most streetcar routes throughout the world, it was decommissioned in the 1960s, and the right-of-way has since been converted to parks and trails.


Education


Secondary schools

The District School Board of Niagara (DSBN), the local public school board, manages 6 secondary schools within St. Catharines: DSBN Academy, Laura Secord Secondary School,
Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, Governor Simcoe, St. Catharines Collegiate, and Eden. The opening of DSBN Academy was described as "Canada's most controversial pedagogical experiment in years" by the ''Globe and Mail'', as the school was specifically geared towards low-income students. This raised fears about segregation in public education and causing low-income students to feel singled out. Proponents argued that the additional academic supports offered to disadvantaged students would raise their chances of attending post-secondary education. Governor Simcoe and Winston Churchill offer
French immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French- immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects ...
programs. Eden Secondary School, although it operates through the DSBN and receives public school funding, is also a Christian school. The
Niagara Catholic District School Board The Niagara Catholic District School Board (Niagara Catholic, previously known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 50 prior to 1998) is the publicly funded Catholic school board in the Regional Municipality of Niagara which is ...
(NCDSB) manages and operates 3 Catholic secondary schools within the city: Holy Cross, Denis Morris Catholic High School, and Saint Francis.
Ridley College Ridley College may refer to * Ridley College (Melbourne), Victoria, Australia * Ridley College (Ontario), Canada See also * Ridley Hall, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK * * Ridley (disambiguation) {{schooldis ...
, near the city's downtown core in the Western Hill neighbourhood, is a private co-educational boarding and day school. It was established as a boys' school in 1889, and became co-educational in 1973.


Post-secondary

St. Catharines is home to
Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...
(established 1964), a modern comprehensive university on the Niagara Escarpment. Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, a post graduate institution of the Lutheran Church–Canada, also operates there. A partnership between the university and the Ontario Grape and Wine Industry established the city as a centre for cool-climate grape and wine research. The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine is a medical school operated by
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...
with a campus in downtown St. Catharines. Prior to 2004, it was known as the McMaster University School of Medicine. Although not a part of St. Catharines itself, there are nearby campuses for
Niagara College The Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology (frequently shortened to Niagara College and branded as Niagara College Canada) is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology partnered with the private Toronto School of Management withi ...
in Niagara on the Lake and
Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on ...
. The college used to operate a horticulture-related campus in the city on 360 Niagara Street, across from Laura Secord Secondary School from the 1970s to 1990s.


Media


Newspapers

* ''
St. Catharines Standard The ''St. Catharines Standard'' is a daily newspaper of the city of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. the publication was owned by Torstar but on May 26, 2020, the company agreed to be acquired by NordStar Capital, a private investment firm. The ...
'' (daily) * ''Niagara This Week'' (community weekly) * ''The Brock Press'' (student newspaper for
Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...
)


Radio

* AM 610:
CKTB CKTB (610 AM, "610 CKTB") is a radio station licensed to St. Catharines, Ontario. Owned by Whiteoaks Communications Group, it broadcasts a talk radio format serving the Niagara Region. Its studios are on Yates Street in downtown St. Catharin ...
,
news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...
/ talk * AM 1220: CFAJ,
Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...
* FM 97.7:
CHTZ Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (, abbreviated , ) also known as CTZ-Uraltrak (''ЧТЗ-УРАЛТРАК'') is a tractor construction plant in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. History The Chelyabinsk Tractor plant was a project of the First five-y ...
(''HTZ FM''),
active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
* FM 103.7: CFBU,
Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...
campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
* FM 105.7: CHRE (''
Move Move or The Move may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Move (company), an American online real estate company * Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer * Daihatsu Move, a Japanese car * PlayStation Move, a motion ...
''),
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...


Television

The Niagara region has no television service of its own. Stations broadcasting from Toronto,
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
and Buffalo are available over-the-air in the region, and the region has a local transmitter (CKVP-DT) rebroadcasting the
Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...
CTV 2 CTV 2 is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated station, owned-and-operated television stat ...
station
CKVR-DT CKVR-DT (channel 3) is a television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio w ...
. A local specialty news and information channel called Niagara News TV launched in February 2011, but ceased operations only 3 months later in April. In 2003, a local business consortium applied to the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...
(CRTC) for a licence to operate TV Niagara, a
community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
television station in St. Catharines. The application was denied by the CRTC in 2005, citing concerns about the group's business plan and its dependence on gaining audience share in the Toronto market.


Sister City

*
Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...
,
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...


See also

*
List of cities in Ontario A city is a subtype of List of municipalities in Ontario, municipalities in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. A city can have the municipal status of either a List of municipalities in Ontario#Unitary authority ( ...
*
List of people from St. Catharines The following people were born in, residents of, or are otherwise closely connected to the city of St. Catharines, Ontario: Fashion *Supermodel Linda Evangelista was born and raised in St. Catharines. Her family still lives there. The breast scree ...
* List of mayors of St. Catharines


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catharines Cities in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Populated places on Lake Ontario in Canada