Its name has been attributed to the belief thatJohn Cabot sailed into the harbour on the Nativity ofJohn the Baptist in 1497, although it is most likely a legend that came with British settlement. A more realistic possibility is that a fishing village with the same name existed without a permanent settlement for most of the 16th century.[12] Indicated asSão João on a Portuguese map from 1519, it is one of the oldest cities in North America.[13][failed verification] It was officially incorporated as a city in 1888. With a metropolitan population of approximately 239,316 (as of 16 January 2025), theSt. John's Metropolitan Area is Canada's22nd-largest metropolitan area and the second-largestCensus Metropolitan Area (CMA) inAtlantic Canada, afterHalifax, Nova Scotia.[14]
St. John's was used by fishermen setting up seasonal camps in the early 1500s.[18]Sebastian Cabot declared in a handwritten Latin text in his original 1545 map[19] that St. John's earned its name when he and his father, the Venetian explorerJohn Cabot, in the service of England, became the first Europeans to sail into the harbour, on the morning of 24 June 1494 (per British andFrench historians, in 1497),[20] the feast day of SaintJohn the Baptist.[9] However, the locations of Cabot's landfalls are disputed.[21][22] A series of expeditions to St. John's by Portuguese from the Azores took place in the early 16th century, and by 1540, French, Spanish and Portuguese ships crossed the Atlantic annually to fish the waters off theAvalon Peninsula. In theBasque Country, it is a common belief the name of St. John's was given by Basque fishermen because the bay of St. John's is very similar to the Bay ofPasaia in the Basque Country, where one of the fishing towns is called St. John (in Spanish, San Juan, and inBasque, Donibane).[10]
The earliest record of the location appears asSão João on a Portuguese map byPedro Reinel in 1519. When the English marinerJohn Rut visited St. John'sin 1527, he foundNorman,Breton and Portuguese ships in the harbour. On 3 August 1527, Rut wrote a letter to KingHenry VIII on the findings of his voyage to North America; this was the first known letter sent from North America. St. Jehan is shown on Nicolas Desliens's world map of 1541, and San Joham is found in João Freire's Atlas of 1546.[23]
On 5 August 1583, an EnglishSea Dog, SirHumphrey Gilbert, claimed the area as England's first overseas colony underRoyal Charter ofQueen Elizabeth I.[24] There was no permanent population, however, and Gilbert was lost at sea during his return voyage, thereby ending any immediate plans for settlement.[10]
Bernard Drake's Newfoundland Expedition in 1585 landed at Saint John's, re-establishing England's claim on the area. St. John's became a base for his operations, where his ships gathered supplies and fresh water. This expedition virtually wiped out the Spanish and Portuguese fishing industries in the area, and so set the stage for subsequent English and French influence in the region.
By 1620, the fishermen of England'sWest Country controlled most of Newfoundland's east coast.[25] In 1627, William Payne, called St. John's "the principal prime and chief lot in all the whole country".[26]
Sometime after 1630, the town of St. John's was established as a permanent community. Before this, English fishermen were expressly forbidden by the English government, at the urging of the West Country fishing industry, to establish permanent settlements along the English-controlled coast.[27]
The population grew slowly in the 17th century: St. John's was Newfoundland's largest settlement when English naval officers began to take censuses around 1675.[23] The population grew in the summers with the arrival of migratory fishermen.[10] In 1680, fishing ships (mostly from SouthDevon) set up fishing rooms at St. John's, bringing hundreds of Irish men into the port to operate inshore fishing boats.[23]
The inhabitants fended off a second Dutch attack in 1673, when it was defended by Christopher Martin, an English merchant captain. Martin landed six cannons from his vessel,Elias Andrews, and constructed an earthenbreastwork andbattery near Chain Rock commanding the Narrows leading into the harbour. With 23 men, Martin beat off an attack by three Dutch warships. The English government planned to expand these fortifications (Fort William) in around 1689, but construction did not begin until after the French admiralPierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captured and destroyed the town in theAvalon Peninsula Campaign (1696). When 1500 English reinforcements arrived in late 1697, they found rubble where the town and fortifications had stood.[citation needed]
The French attacked St. John's again in 1705 (Siege of St. John's), and captured it in 1708 (Battle of St. John's), devastating civilian structures with fire on each instance.[23]The harbour remained fortified through most of the 18th and 19th centuries.[10] The final battle of theSeven Years' War in North America (known as theFrench and Indian War in the US) was fought in 1762, in St. John's.[10] Following a surprise capture of the town by the French early in the year, the British responded and, at theBattle of Signal Hill, the French surrendered St. John's to British forces under the command ofColonel William Amherst.[23][28]
There has been some controversy regarding which European settlement is the oldest in Anglophone North America. As mentioned above, while English fishermen had set up seasonal camps in St. John's in the 16th century, they were expressly forbidden by the English government, at the urging of the West Country fishing industry, to establish permanent settlements along the English-controlled coast. As a result, the town of St. John's was not established as a permanent community until after the 1630s.[27] With respect to the oldest surviving permanentEnglish settlements in North America, it was preceded byJamestown, Virginia (1607),[30] theCuper's Cove colony atCupids in Newfoundland (1610),St. George's, Bermuda (1612),[31] and theBristol's Hope colony atHarbour Grace in Newfoundland (1618).[32] Each of these English settlements were far later than other European settlements in North America, such asSt. Augustine, Florida established by Spain in 1565.[33]
On 24 April 1800, the"United Irish Uprising" occurred when 19 Irish soldiers who were part of the British garrison stationed in Newfoundlandmutinied. The mutineers, who were suspected to be members of theSociety of United Irishmen, fled to the countryside after the mutiny failed, and were apprehended in a matter of weeks andcourt-martialled. Of the 17 mutineers captured, 8 were executed, 4 were let go while 5 were sentenced topenal transportation.[34]
The 18th century saw major changes in Newfoundland: population growth, beginnings of government, establishment of churches, reinforcement of commercial ties with North America and development of theseal,salmon andGrand Banks fisheries. St. John's population grew slowly. Although it was primarily a fishing station, it was also agarrison, a centre of government and a commercial hub. St. John's served as a naval base during theAmerican Revolutionary War and theWar of 1812.[23]
St. John's shortly after theGreat Fire of 1892. The fire destroyed a significant portion of the city.
Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John's on 12 December 1901 from his wireless station inPoldhu, Cornwall.[15] St. John's was the starting point for the first non-stop transatlantic aircraft flight, byAlcock and Brown in a modifiedVickers Vimy IV bomber, in June 1919, departing from Lester's Field in St. John's and ending in a bog nearClifden,Connemara, Ireland.[35] In July 2005, the flight was duplicated by American aviator and adventurerSteve Fossett in a replica Vickers Vimy aircraft, withSt. John's International Airport substituting for Lester's Field (now an urban and residential part of the city).[36]
St. John's, and the province as a whole, was gravely affected in the 1990s by thecollapse of the northerncod fishery, which had been the driving force of the provincial economy for hundreds of years.[40] After a decade of high unemployment rates and depopulation, the city's proximity to theHibernia,Terra Nova andWhite Roseoil fields led to aneconomic boom that spurred population growth and commercial development. As a result, the St. John's area now accounts for about half of the province'seconomic output.[41][42]
St. John's was destroyed by major fires in 1816, 1817, 1819, 1846 and 1892, when each time a large part of the city was destroyed. The most famous was theGreat Fire of 1892.[45][page needed]
On 12 February 1816:
...about eight o'clock, a fire broke out in a house in a part of the town in St. John's in Newfoundland known by the name of the King's Beach, and speedily communicated to the houses adjoining, and burnt with so much fury, that one hundred and twenty houses, the homes of about a thousand men, women, and children, were consumed before the conflagration was stayed.[46]
There were two citywide fires in 1817 "known jointly as 'The Great Fire of 1817'.[47] Then in 1819 fire "destroyed 120 houses".[48]
There wasa further major fire in 1846, which started at the shop of a cabinetmaker named Hamlin, located on George Street off Queen Street, when a glue pot boiled over. The fire spread along Water and Duckworth Streets destroying all of the buildings in its path aided by the large quantities of seal oil that were stored in the merchants' premises. The fire was also aided by an attempt to blow up a house on Water Street which scattered burning embers across the city.[49]
The final major conflagration of the nineteenth century began on the afternoon of 8 July 1892 atop Carter's Hill on Freshwater Road. Initially, the fire did not cause any widespread panic; however, a series of catastrophic coincidences caused the fire to spread and devour virtually all of the east end of the city, including much of its major commercial area, before being extinguished.[50]
St. John's is along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeast of the Avalon Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland.[51] The city is North America's most easterly city, excludingGreenland;[8] it is 475 km (295 mi) closer to London, England than it is toEdmonton, Alberta.[52] It is also closer to all of Ireland than toMiami, Florida, United States, also on the east coast of North America.[53][54] The city is the largest in the province and the second largest in the Atlantic Provinces afterHalifax, Nova Scotia.[55] Itsdowntown area lies to the west and north of St. John's Harbour, and the rest of the city expands from the downtown to the north, south, east and west. The city covers a total of 446.04 km2 (172.22 sq mi) (larger thanMontreal), but the majority of its area remains covered by undeveloped woods.
Mean temperatures range from −4.7 °C (23.5 °F) in February to 16.5 °C (61.7 °F) in August, showing somewhat of a seasonal lag in the climate. The city is also one of the areas of the country most prone to tropical cyclone activity, as it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, where tropical storms (and sometimes hurricanes) travel from the United States. With an annual average 1,539 millimetres (60.58 in) of precipitation, the city is one of the wettest in Canada outside of coastal British Columbia. This is partly due to its propensity for tropical storm activity as well as moist, Atlantic air frequently blowing ashore and creating precipitation.[58]
Of major Canadian cities, St. John's is the foggiest (124 days)[59] and windiest (24.3 km/h (15.1 mph) average speed).[60] Precipitation is frequent and often heavy, falling year-round. On average, summer is the driest season, with only occasional thunderstorm activity. June is the driest month, averaging 88.2 mm (3.47 in) of precipitation. The wettest months are from October to January, with December the wettest single month, with about 174 mm (6.85 in) of precipitation on average. This winter precipitation maximum is unusual for humid continental climates, which typically have a late spring or early summer precipitation maximum (for example, most of theMidwestern United States). Most heavy precipitation events in St. John's are the product of intense mid-latitude storms from the Northeastern United States andNew England states, and these are most common and intense from October to March, bringing heavy precipitation (commonly 40 to 80 mm (1.6 to 3.1 in) of rainfall equivalent in a single storm), and strong winds.[citation needed]
In winter, two or more types of precipitation (rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow) can fall from passage of a single storm. Snowfall is heavy, averaging approximately 363.4 cm (143.1 in) per winter season. However, winter storms can bring changing precipitation types. Heavy snow can turn into heavy rain, melting the snow cover, and possibly back to snow or ice (perhaps briefly) all in the same storm, resulting in little or no net snow accumulation. Snow cover in St. John's is variable, and especially early in the winter season, may be slow to develop, but can extend well into the spring months (March, April). The St. John's area is subject tofreezing rain events (called "silver thaws"), the worst of which paralysed the city in April 1984[61] and April 2017.[62]
On 17 January 2020, St. John's declared astate of emergency due to a snowstorm that brought an estimated 76 cm (30 in)—a one-day snowfall record for St. John's—andhurricane force winds up to 130 km/h (81 mph).[63][64][65][66] The following day, theCanadian Army was called in to aid snow removal.[67] The state of emergency ended eight days later.[68]
The highest temperature ever recorded in St. John's was 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) on 14 August 1876.[69] The coldest temperature ever recorded was −29.4 °C (−20.9 °F) on 16 February 1875.[70]
Downtown St. John's architecture has a distinct style. Starting originally as a fishing outpost for European fishermen, St. John's consisted mostly of the homes of fishermen, sheds, storage shacks, and wharves constructed out of wood. As theIndustrial Revolution developed and new methods and materials for construction were introduced, and the cityscape changed as the city grew. The Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the downtown core, and most residential and other wood-frame buildings date from this period.[45][page needed] The City's earliest suburbs in the area now known asGeorgestown were not touched by the fire.
Some houses in St. John's are painted in bright colours
Built on hilly terrain and steep maze of residential streets, in St. John's is typically painted in bright colours, hence the nickname Jelly Bean Row for downtownrow housing.[76] However, downtown St. John's wasn't always as bright and colourful as it is today. The coal soot that blanketed St. John's in much of the 19th and 20th centuries made light exterior paint colours impractical. Houses along downtown streets and lanes were mostly dark shades of green, red, brown, and grey. Bright colours were introduced in the 1970s when coal was no longer used.[77]
Thecity council implemented strict heritage regulations in the downtown area, including restrictions on the height of buildings.[78] These regulations have caused much controversy over the years. With the city experiencing an economic boom a lack of hotel rooms and office space has seen proposals put forward that do not meet the current height regulations. Heritage advocates argue the current regulations should be enforced while others believe the regulations should be relaxed to encourage economic development.[79][80][81][82]
To meet the need for more office space downtown, the city council amended heritage regulations, which originally restricted height to 15 m (49 ft) in the area of land on Water Street between Bishop's Cove and Steer's Cove, to create the "Commercial Central Retail – West Zone". The new zone allows for higher buildings. A 47 m (154 ft), 12-storey office building, which includes retail space and a parking garage, was the first building to be approved in this area.[83]
The city of St. John's is made up of many neighbourhoods.Georgestown was the first suburb.[84] TheGoulds andKilbride are former communities that have been amalgamated with St. John's.The Battery is anoutport within the city of St. John's.[85]Quidi Vidi is a similar, former fishing village on the outskirts of St John's.[86]
In the2021 Canadian census conducted byStatistics Canada, St. John's had a population of 110,525 living in 49,298 of its 54,067 total private dwellings, a change of1.5% from its 2016 population of 108,860. With a land area of 446.02 km2 (172.21 sq mi), it had a population density of247.8/km2 (641.8/sq mi) in 2021.[5]
At thecensus metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the St. John's CMA had a population of 212,579 living in 89,999 of its 97,429 total private dwellings, a change of2% from its 2016 population of 208,418. With a land area of 931.56 km2 (359.68 sq mi), it had a population density of228.2/km2 (591.0/sq mi) in 2021.[5]
Also as of the 2021 census, there are 178,427 people in the St. John'spopulation centre.[93]There are 52,410 total private dwellings in St. John's with an occupancy rate of 90.9%. The median value of a private dwelling in St. John's is $309,631, lower than the national median value of $341,556 but higher than the provincial median value of $219,228.[citation needed]
St. John's has a median age of 40.5 compared to 41.2 nationally and 46.0 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Children under 15 make up 13.9% of the population while people 65 and over make up 16.5%. 70.6% of residents aged 25 to 65 have a post secondary certificate, diploma or degree, while 20.6% have a secondary school diploma or equivalent, 7.4% have an apprenticeship or trades certificate, and 8.8% hold no certificates, diplomas or degrees. The city has an unemployment rate of 8.9%, much lower than the provincial rate of 15.6% but somewhat higher than the national rate of 7.7%.[citation needed]
The 2021 census reported thatimmigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 7,515 persons or 7.0% of the total population of St. John's. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were United Kingdom (805 persons or 10.7%), Philippines (625 persons or 8.3%), United States of America (510 persons or 6.8%), India (485 persons or 6.5%), Syria (455 persons or 6.1%), China (420 persons or 5.6%), Nigeria (310 persons or 4.1%), Bangladesh (195 persons or 2.6%), Pakistan (155 persons or 2.1%), and Eritrea (150 persons or 2.0%).[94]
English is the mother tongue spoken by the majority of residents of St. John's (92.9%).
In the Province, as a whole, Chinese is the second most common language; it is the mother tongue of 1.1% of the population. French is the mother tongue of 0.6% of the population. 99.5% of the population speak French or English or both.[99]
St. John's economy is connected both to its role as the provincial capital of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the ocean. The civil service which is supported by the federal, provincial and municipal governments has been the key to the expansion of the city's labour force and to the stability of its economy, which supports a sizeable retail, service and business sector.[103]With the collapse of the cod fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1990s, the role of the ocean is now tied to what lies beneath it – oil and gas – as opposed to what swims in or travels across it.[104] The city is the centre of the oil and gas industry in Eastern Canada and is one of 19 World Energy Cities.[105]ExxonMobil Canada is headquartered in St. John's and companies such asChevron,Husky Energy,Suncor Energy andStatoil have major regional operations in the city.[106][107] Three major offshore oil developments, Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose, are in production off the coast of the city and a fourth development,Hebron, discovered in 1981 and put online in 2017, is estimated to contain over 700 million barrels of producible hydrocarbons.[108][109]
The economy has grown quickly. In 2010 and 2011, the metro area's gross domestic product (GDP) led 27 other metropolitan areas in the country, according to theConference Board of Canada, recording growth of 6.6% and 5.8% respectively.[110] As of 2010[update] the city's per capita GDP of $52,000 was the second highest out of all major Canadian cities.[111] Economic forecasts suggested the city would continue its strong economic growth in the near future not only in the "oceanic" industries mentioned above, but also in tourism and new home construction as the population continues to grow. In May 2011, the city's unemployment rate fell to 5.6%, the second lowest unemployment rate for a major city in Canada at the time.[112]
St. John's is also becoming known as an entrepreneurial city. In a 2009 report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business,Communities in Boom: Canada's Top Entrepreneurial Cities, St. John's was ranked the best major city in Atlantic Canada and 19th overall in Canada for providing a good environment for small business development.[113]
Tourism is also a significant contributor to the province's economy.[114] An important aspect of this arecruise ships that "include the Port of St. John's on their … itineraries as both a home port and in-transit port of call".[115]
Water Street is notable for its boutiques and restaurants
The downtown area is the cultural hub of St. John's and is a major tourist destination in Newfoundland and Labrador and Atlantic Canada.Water Street and Duckworth Street are known for their brightly coloured low-rise heritage buildings, housing numerous tourist shops, clothing boutiques, and restaurants.[116][117]
George Street, a downtown side street above the western end of Water Street, is the predominant home of the city's nightlife. It holds numerous annual festivals including the George Street Festival in August and the Mardi Gras Festival in October. The street can be credited with kick-starting the careers of many musical acts and is busy nearly every night of the week.[118][119]
In 1967, the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre was opened along with the first all-Canadian Dominion Drama Festival.[124]Other theatrical venues include theLSPU Hall and the Holy Heart School's theatre.[125]
Another festival is The Sound Symposium, which "has been running bi-annually since conception in 1983" that "brings together musicians, actors, dancers, visual and environmental artists, and creators of all stripes – both local and international, ‘new age’ and traditional, in celebration of the beauty of sound". A major aspect of The Sound Symposium is the Harbour Symphony a compositions played daily at noon by the horns of the ships in the harbour.
Other museums include theRailway Coastal Museum, a transportation museum in the 104-year-old Newfoundland and Labrador train station building on Water Street.[137] TheJohnson Geo Centre is a geological interpretation centre on Signal Hill.[138]
TheMurray Premises is a National Historic Site in downtown St. John's.[139] The buildings once served as a fishery premises, with facilities for drying and packaging fish and warehouses for fish, barrels and other items. The oldest of the buildings is the one facing on Beck's Cove. It was built after the 1846 fire and for a time served as both shop and house. The Murray Premises was renovated in 1979 and now contains office suites, restaurants, retail stores and a boutique hotel.[140][141]
Pippy Park is an urban park in the east end of the city; with over 1,400 ha (3,400 acres) of land, it is one of Canada's largest urban parks. The park contains a range of recreational facilities including two golf courses, Newfoundland and Labrador's largest serviced campground, walking and skiing trails as well as protected habitat for many plants and animals. Pippy Park is also home to theFluvarium, an environmental education centre which offers a cross section view of Nagle's Hill Brook.[144]
Bowring Park, in theWaterford Valley, is one of the most scenic parks in St. John's. Entrance to the park is via Waterford Bridge Road, passing a sculptured duck pond and astatue of Peter Pan. The parkland was donated to the city in 1911 bySir Edgar Rennie Bowring on behalf ofBowring Brothers Ltd. on their 100th anniversary of commerce in Newfoundland. The park was officially opened by His Royal Highness, theDuke of Connaught on 15 July 1914.[145]
Bannerman Park is a Victorian-style park near the downtown. The park was officially opened in 1891 bySir Alexander Bannerman, Governor of theColony of Newfoundland who donated the land to create the park.[140] Today the park contains a public swimming pool, playground, a baseball diamond and many large open grassy areas. Bannerman Park hosts many festivals and sporting events, most notably the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival and St. John's Peace-a-chord. The park is also the finishing location for the annualTely 10 Mile Road Race.[146]
Closeby, the Lieutenant-Governor's residence sits in a park-like setting which is open to the public.
Associated with theJohnson Geo Centre there, is on the lower slopes of Signal Hill, a small park that contains afen, the small lake, Deadman's Pond, as well as a network of walking trails.
In 2018, theECHL approved an expansion team for St. John's with theNewfoundland Growlers.[153] The team became the ECHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs bringing the Leafs back to St. John's for the first time since 2005.[154] In their first season, they won theKelly Cup as champions of the league.[155] In April 2024, the Growlers ceased operations before the2023–24 ECHL season concluded.[156]
TheSt. John's Edge was a Canadian professional basketball team based inNational Basketball League of Canada that launched as an expansion team for the2017–18 season at the Mile One Centre.[159] The team was owned by Atlantic Sport Enterprises Ltd. headed by John Graham with Irwin Simon and Robert Sabbagh.[160] The team replaced the IceCaps as the primary tenant at the Mile One Centre after their departure. In 2021, the Edge did not obtain a lease extension at the Mile One Centre.
St. John's is home to North America's oldest annual sporting event, theRoyal St. John's Regatta, which dates back to at least 1816. The event is important enough in the life of the city that the day of the Regatta (the first Wednesday in August, weather permitting) is a civic holiday – one of the few weather-dependent holidays in the world.[165]
The Tely 10 Mile Road Race is an annual 10 mi (16 km) road race that starts in Paradise and finishes at Bannerman Park. The race draws in excess of 2,500 runners. It began in 1922, which makes it one of the oldest road races in Canada.[166]
Curling has gained prominence in St. John's over the years. The2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's curling championship, was held at Mile One Centre from 19 to 27 February 2005.[168] The 2006 Olympic gold medalist men's curling team, skipped byBrad Gushue, is based in St. John's at the Bally Haly Golf & Curling Club.[169] Gushue and his team launched a campaign to return theBrier to the province for 2017, a successful bid. They went on to win the Brier as well as representing Canada at the World Championships three weeks later going undefeated and winning the gold medal. The Brier win was the second for the province (1976) and the second time as event host (1972). The city has two curling clubs, theSt. John's Curling Club and the Bally Haly.
St. John's is governed by amayor-council system, and the structure of the municipal government is stipulated by the City of St. John's Act.[173][174] St. John's City Council is aunicameral legislative body composed of amayor, deputy mayor and nine councillors. The mayor, deputy mayor and four of the councillors are elected at large while the five other councillors represent geographical wards throughout the city. The mayor and members of the city council serve four-year terms without term limits.[175]
Elections in St. John's are held every four years on the last Tuesday in September. The current city council was elected in the municipal election held in 2025. The Mayor of St. John's isDanny Breen.[176] The St. John's City Hall, on New Gower Street, has housed municipal offices and Council Chambers since being officially opened in 1970.[140][177]
St. John's is represented in the House of Commons by three members of Parliament. LiberalJoanne Thompson represents St. John's East,[181] LiberalTom Osborne represents Cape Spear, and LiberalPaul Connors represents Avalon.[182][183]
The Newfoundland and Labrador office for the regional federal minister is in downtown St. John's. Regional offices forGovernment of Canada departments and agencies are throughout the city.[184][185]
Police services for the city are provided by theRoyal Newfoundland Constabulary, which serves as the primary policing body of the metropolitan area.[188] The "B" Division headquarters of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police is located in thePleasantville neighbourhood; however, the RCMP primarily operate in rural Newfoundland and Labrador and not St. John's.[189]
St. John's has traditionally been one of the safest cities in Canada to live; however, in recent years, crime in the city has steadily increased. While national crime decreased by 4% in 2009, the total crime rate in St. John's saw an increase of 4%. During this same time,violent crime in the city decreased 6%, compared to a 1% decrease nationally.[190][191] In 2010, the total crime severity index for the city was 101.9, an increase of 10% from 2009 and 19.2% above the national average. The violent crime severity index was 90.1, an increase of 29% from 2009 and 1.2% above the national average. St. John's had the seventh-highest metropolitan crime index and twelfth-highest metropolitan violent crime index in the country in 2010.[192]
According to Statistics Canada's Juristat reports (1993–2007), the metropolitan area reports an average homicide rate of approximately 1.15 per 100,000 population; an average of twohomicides per year. An all-time high rate of 2.27 was reported in 1993 (four homicides). This figure is far below the national average and ranks amongst the lowest rates for any metropolitan area in Canada.[193]
In 2004, aHells Angel fromMontreal,Patrick "Big Pat" Champoux, arrived in St. Johns.[194] Champoux established himself as the most important gangster in St. John's, being involved in a number of assaults and smashing up bars that refused to pay him extortion money.[195] Champoux was sentenced to eight years in prison after his conviction in 2009.[196] However, despite the conviction of Champoux, the Criminal Intelligence Service reported in the same year: "In Newfoundland and Labrador, despite their lack of a physical presence, the Hells Angels continue to exert their criminal influence in this region through associates and/or local criminals".[197] In June 2013, both men wearing "Support 81" T-shirts, Allan Winfield Porter and Bradley John Summers, were arrested in connection with a number of cases of arson, shootings and assaults in St. John's.[198]
There are numerous recreational paths in the city, many of which are part theGrand Concourse. The Grand Concourse includes the path aroundQuidi Vidi Lake, parts of Signal Hill, downtown streets, along river banks, and around other lakes. It also extends into Mount Pearl.[204] There are also many kilometres of path within Signal Hill National Historic Park,[205] the Geo-Vista Park on the lower sloe of Signal Hill,[206] Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden,[207] and within Pippy Park.[208]
There are also trails used by mountain bikers, trail runners and walkers on the White Hills, behind the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP headquarters.[209]
TheTrans Canada Trail passes through St. John's. Now starting at Cape Spear, it passes Fort Amherst and the Railway Coastal Museum, which was the original mile zero, before continuing across the Island. TheEast Coast Trail, also passes through St. John's, coming fromTopsail Beach in the north to pass through St. John's viaQuidi Vidi, Signal Hill and Water Street before connecting with the Trans Canada Trail at the Railway Coastal Museum, before heading east to Cape Spear, and then continuing south toCappahayden.[210]
Alleys and stairways provide other traffic-free routes and are part of the city's historic fabric, especially in the downtown area, including the ecclesiastical district.[211]
The St. John's Cycling Master Plan was officially launched in July 2009. Its first phase consists of 43 km (27 mi) of on-road painted bike lanes, signs on an additional 73 km (45 mi) of roadway, the installation of 20bicycle parking facilities and the addition of bike racks on the fleet of 53 Metrobuses.[212] There are also plans to create a number ofshared-use paths, the first of which, the Kelly's Brook Shared-Use Path, opened in 2025.[213]
Metrobus Transit is responsible for public transit in the region.[214] Metrobus has a total of 19 routes, 53 buses and an annual ridership of 3,014,073.[215] Destinations include theAvalon Mall, The Village Shopping Centre, Memorial University, Academy Canada, the College of the North Atlantic, the Marine Institute, the Confederation Building, downtown,Stavanger Drive Business Park, Kelsey Drive,Goulds,Kilbride, Shea Heights, the four hospitals in the city as well as other important areas in St. John's and Mount Pearl.[216]
St. John's is served by NL Health Services, Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial health authority.[218] The city's major hospitals include the Health Sciences Centre, St. Clare's Mercy Hospital, Waterford Hospital and theJaneway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre.[219]
There are 32 Anglophone primary, elementary and secondary schools in the city of St. John's, including two private schools.[220] St. John's also has two schools that are part of the province-wide Conseil Scolaire Francophone[221] (CSF), theFrancophone public school district. It has two private schools,St. Bonaventure's College and Lakecrest Independent.[222]
The main campus ofAtlantic Canada's largest university,Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), is in St. John's.[223] There are satellite campuses onSignal Hill, St. John's, and the Ocean Sciences Centre in nearby Logy Bay. TheFisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MI or simply Marine Institute) is a post-secondary ocean and marine polytechnic in St. John's and is affiliated with Memorial University of Newfoundland. MUN provides comprehensive education and grants degrees, and was one of the top ten comprehensive universities in Canada according to Maclean's in 2021.[224]
TheCollege of the North Atlantic (CNA) is the public college of the province and operates two main campuses in the city.[225] CNA provides career, trade, degree and university-transfer programs for St. John's residents.[226]
The city hosts several private colleges and post-secondary schools; Academy Canada, Eastern College, and Keyin College are the largest of these.[227]
CJON-DT, known on air as "NTV", is anindependent station. The station sublicenses entertainment programming fromGlobal and news programming fromCTV and Global, rather than purchasing primary broadcast rights.Rogers Cable has its provincial headquarters in St. John's, and their community channelRogers TV airs local shows such asOut of the Fog andOne Chef One Critic.CBC Television (CBC) has its Newfoundland and Labrador headquarters in the city and their television stationCBNT-DT broadcasts from University Avenue.
The city is home to 15 AM and FM radio stations, two of which areFrench-language stations. TheITU prefixVO was assigned to the Dominion of Newfoundland before the province joinedCanadian Confederation in 1949, and threeAM stations kept their existing call letters. However, other commercial radio stations in St. John's that went to air after 1949 use the same range of prefixes (CF–CK) currently in use elsewhere in Canada, with the exception ofVOCM-FM, which was permitted to adopt the VOCM callsign because of its corporate association with the AM station that bore that callsign. VO remains in use inamateur radio.
allNewfoundlandLabrador is the city's dailyonline newspaper, which focuses on business news from across the province.[233]
^Based on station coordinates provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada, climate data was collected in the area of downtown St. John's from 1874 to 1956,[71] and at St. John's Airport from 1942 to the present day.[72]
^Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.
^Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
^Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
^Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" under visible minority section on census.
^ab"John Cabot's Voyage of 1497".Newfoundland and Labrador heritage Web Site Project. Memorial University of Newfoundland. November 2010.Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved8 August 2011.
^Baker, Melvin."St. John's".The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived fromthe original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved2 January 2011.
^Fry, Heidi; Ryall, Krista; Dixon, Peggy; Quiring, Dan (2008). "Suppression ofEnnomos subsignaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) onAcer pseudoplatanus (Aceraceae) in an Urban Forest with Bole-Implanted Acephate".Journal of Economic Entomology.101 (3):829–837.doi:10.1603/0022-0493(2008)101[822:SOESLG]2.0.CO;2 (inactive 29 October 2025).PMID18613583.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of October 2025 (link)
^Schlegel, Jeff (28 July 2006)."St. Johns, Newfoundland".The Boston Globe.Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved23 February 2010.
^"On working class houses, clapboard and trim were generally painted a single colour. Trim accent colours were typically found on more substantial homes. In the outports, white was still the most common house colour, often with a secondary trim colour.""Capital Colours" and "Lightening Up"".HistoricPaint.ca.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 October 2021)."Census Profile, 2016 Census".www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 November 2015)."NHS Profile".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (20 August 2019)."2006 Community Profiles".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2 July 2019)."2001 Community Profiles".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^"Arts and Culture Centres". St. John's Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. Archived fromthe original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved2 January 2011.
^"Playwrights". Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador.Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved26 November 2015.
^"Home". Holy Heart Theatre. Retrieved31 January 2025.
^"Poet Laureate". City of St John's. March 2024. Retrieved31 January 2025.
^"Home". St. John's International Women's Film Festival.Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved2 January 2011.
Harding, Les (1993).Historic St. John's: The City of Legends. Jesperson.ISBN0-921692-52-8.
Galgay, Frank (2001).Olde St. John's: Stories from a Seaport City. St. John's: Flanker.
Langton, Jerry (2015).Cold War How Organized Crime Works in Canada and Why It's About to Get More Violent. Toronto: HarperColllins.ISBN978-1-4434-3255-9.
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