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 covers an area of 446.04 square kilometers (172.22 square miles) and is the easternmost city in North America, excluding Greenland.
The city's name is believed to come from a story that John Cabot entered the harbor on the Nativity of John the Baptist in 1497. However, this is likely a legend from British settlers. A more likely explanation is that a fishing village with the same name existed without a permanent settlement for much of the 16th century. The area was labeled "São João" on a Portuguese map from 1519, making it one of the oldest cities in North America. It was officially recognized as a city in 1888. As of January 16, 2025, the St. John's Metropolitan Area has a population of about 239,316. This makes it Canada's 22nd-largest metropolitan area and the second-largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada, following Halifax, Nova Scotia.
St. John's has a long history, playing a role in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John's. The city's history and culture have made it a popular tourist destination. In the poetry of Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara (1715–1810), the city was referred to as "Baile Sheáin" (Johnstown), a name used by Irish speakers in Newfoundland.
History
St. John's was used by fishermen who built seasonal camps in the early 1500s. Sebastian Cabot wrote in Latin on his map from 1545 that St. John's got its name when he and his father, John Cabot, an explorer from Venice, arrived in the harbor on June 24, 1494 (some historians say 1497). This date is also the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. However, the exact places where Cabot landed are not agreed upon. Portuguese people from the Azores visited St. John's in the early 1600s. By 1540, French, Spanish, and Portuguese ships traveled across the Atlantic each year to fish near the Avalon Peninsula. In the Basque Country, many believe St. John's was named after the Bay of Pasaia, a place in the Basque region where a town is called San Juan (in Spanish) or Donibane (in Basque).
The earliest record of the area appears as "São João" on a Portuguese map from 1519. In 1527, an English sailor named John Rut visited St. John's and saw Norman, Breton, and Portuguese ships in the harbor. On August 3, 1527, Rut wrote a letter to King Henry VIII about his trip to North America. This was the first letter ever sent from North America. In 1541, the name "St. Jehan" appeared on a map by Nicolas Desliens, and "San Joham" was shown on a map by João Freire in 1546.
On August 5, 1583, an English sailor named Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the area for England under a royal order from Queen Elizabeth I. However, there were no permanent people living there, and Gilbert died at sea during his return trip, which stopped plans for settlement.
In 1585, Bernard Drake’s expedition to Newfoundland landed at St. John's, reasserting England’s claim to the area. St. John's became a base for his operations, where his ships collected supplies and fresh water. This expedition greatly reduced the Spanish and Portuguese fishing industries in the region, making way for future English and French influence.
By 1620, English fishermen from the West Country controlled most of Newfoundland’s east coast. In 1627, William Payne called St. John's "the principal and chief lot in all the whole country."
Sometime after 1630, the town of St. John's was built as a permanent community. Before this, the English government, at the request of the West Country fishing industry, forbade fishermen from creating permanent settlements along the coast.
The population of St. John's grew slowly in the 17th century. It became Newfoundland’s largest settlement when English naval officers began taking population counts around 1675. More people arrived in the summer for fishing. In 1680, fishing ships from South Devon set up fishing rooms at St. John's, bringing hundreds of Irish men to work on inshore fishing boats.
The town’s first major defenses were built because of commercial interests, after the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter temporarily took control of St. John's in 1665.
In 1673, the town was defended by Christopher Martin, an English merchant captain. He placed six cannons from his ship, Elias Andrews, and built an earthen wall near Chain Rock to protect the harbor. With 23 men, Martin repelled an attack by three Dutch warships. The English government planned to expand these defenses (called Fort William) around 1689, but construction began only after the French admiral Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captured and destroyed the town during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign in 1696. When 1,500 English soldiers arrived in late 1697, they found only ruins where the town and defenses had stood.
The French attacked St. John's again in 1705 (called the Siege of St. John's) and captured it in 1708 (called the Battle of St. John's). Each time, they burned civilian buildings. The harbor remained fortified throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The final battle of the Seven Years’ War in North America (called the French and Indian War in the United States) took place in St. John's in 1762. After the French surprised the town early in the year, the British responded and, at the Battle of Signal Hill, the French surrendered St. John's to British forces led by Colonel William Amherst.
In the late 1700s, Fort Amherst and Fort Waldegrave were built to protect the harbor entrance.
There has been debate about which European settlement is the oldest in Anglophone North America. While English fishermen had seasonal camps in St. John's in the 16th century, the English government, at the request of the West Country fishing industry, prevented them from building permanent homes along the coast. As a result, St. John's was not established as a permanent town until after the 1630s. Other older English settlements in North America include Jamestown, Virginia (1607), Cuper's Cove in Newfoundland (1610), St. George's, Bermuda (1612), and Bristol's Hope in Newfoundland (1618). These settlements were later than other European ones, such as St. Augustine, Florida, founded by Spain in 1565.
On April 24, 1800, the "United Irish Uprising" happened when 19 Irish
Geography
St. John's is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in the northeast part of the Avalon Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland. It is North America's most easterly city, excluding Greenland. The city is the largest in the province and the second-largest in the Atlantic Provinces after Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its downtown area is to the west and north of St. John's Harbour, and the rest of the city spreads out from the downtown to the north, south, east, and west. The city covers a total of 446.04 square kilometres (172.22 sq mi), which is larger than Montreal, Quebec. However, most of its area remains covered by undeveloped woods.
Coniferous trees such as black spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir are the main types of native vegetation. The largest deciduous tree is white birch, and smaller species include alder, cherry, and mountain ash. Introduced tree species include sycamore maple, which is most common, and Norway maple, which is also frequent. Other non-native species found in the area include blue spruce, common horsechestnut, European beech, and littleleaf linden.
St. John's has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), which has smaller seasonal temperature differences than usual for its latitude. This is due to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream. Average temperatures range from −4.7 °C (23.5 °F) in February to 16.5 °C (61.7 °F) in August, showing a slight delay in temperature changes. The city is one of the areas in the country most affected by tropical cyclones, as it is near the Atlantic Ocean to the east, where tropical storms (and sometimes hurricanes) come from the United States. With an average annual precipitation of 1,538.9 millimetres (60.59 in), the city is one of the wettest in Canada outside of coastal British Columbia. This is partly because of frequent tropical storm activity and moist Atlantic air that often brings rain.
Of major Canadian cities, St. John's is the foggiest (124 days per year) and windiest (average wind speed of 24.3 km/h (15.1 mph)). Rain and snow fall often and can be heavy throughout the year. Summer is the driest season, with only occasional thunderstorms. June is the driest month, averaging 88.2 mm (3.47 in) of precipitation. The wettest months are October to January, with December being the wettest single month, averaging 173.9 mm (6.85 in) of precipitation. This winter precipitation pattern is unusual for humid continental climates, which typically have more rain in late spring or early summer. Most heavy rain in St. John's comes from powerful storms in the northeastern United States and New England, which are most frequent and intense from October to March. These storms often bring heavy rain (40 to 80 mm (1.6 to 3.1 in) per storm) and strong winds.
In winter, a single storm can bring multiple types of precipitation, such as rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. Snowfall is heavy, averaging about 242.8 centimetres (95.6 in) per winter season. However, winter storms can cause changes in precipitation types. Heavy snow may melt into rain, which can then refreeze into snow or ice, sometimes within the same storm. This can result in little or no snow accumulation. Snow cover in St. John's varies, and it may take time to build up early in winter but can last into spring (March and April). The area is also prone to freezing rain events, called "silver thaws." The worst of these events caused major disruptions in April 1984 and April 2017.
On 17 January 2020, St. John's declared a state of emergency due to a snowstorm that brought about 76 cm (30 in) of snow in one day, a record for the city, and hurricane-force winds up to 130 km/h (81 mph). The next day, the Canadian Army was called in to help clear snow. The state of emergency ended eight days later.
The highest temperature ever recorded in St. John's was 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) on 14 August 1876. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −29.4 °C (−20.9 °F) on 16 February 1875.
Downtown architecture
Downtown St. John's architecture has a unique style. Originally, St. John's was a fishing outpost for European fishermen. The area had homes for fishermen, sheds, storage buildings, and wooden wharves. As the Industrial Revolution began and new building methods and materials were introduced, the city grew and changed. The Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the downtown area. Most homes and other wooden buildings built after this fire are still standing today. The earliest suburbs in the area now called Georgestown were not affected by the fire.
St. John's is built on hilly land with narrow, winding residential streets. Many downtown homes are painted in bright colors, which is why the area is sometimes called "Jelly Bean Row." However, downtown St. John's was not always colorful. During much of the 19th and 20th centuries, coal soot covered the city, making light-colored paint impractical. Homes along downtown streets were mostly dark green, red, brown, or gray. Bright colors became common in the 1970s after coal was no longer used.
The city council created strict rules to protect the historical buildings in downtown St. John's. These rules limit how tall new buildings can be. These regulations have caused disagreements over the years. As the city grows economically, there is a need for more hotel rooms and office space. Some proposals for new buildings do not follow the current height limits. Supporters of preserving history argue the rules should stay in place, while others believe the rules should be changed to help the economy grow.
To address the need for more office space, the city council updated the heritage rules. Previously, buildings could not be taller than 15 meters (49 feet) on Water Street between Bishop's Cove and Steer's Cove. The new "Commercial Central Retail – West Zone" allows for taller buildings. A 47-meter (154-foot) office building with 12 floors, retail space, and a parking garage was the first approved building in this area.
Neighbourhoods
The city of St. John's consists of many neighborhoods. Georgestown was the first suburb. The Goulds and Kilbride were former communities that have been merged with St. John's. The Battery is an outport located within the city of St. John's. Quidi Vidi is a former fishing village situated on the outskirts of St. John's.
Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census, Statistics Canada reported that St. John's had a population of 110,525 people living in 49,298 of its 54,067 total private dwellings (houses and apartments). This was an increase of 1.5% compared to the 2016 population of 108,860. The city covers an area of 446.02 square kilometers (172.21 square miles) and had a population density of 247.8 people per square kilometer (641.8 people per square mile) in 2021.
At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level, the St. John's CMA had a population of 212,579 people living in 89,999 of its 97,429 total private dwellings. This was an increase of 2% since 2016, when the population was 208,418. The CMA covers 931.56 square kilometers (359.68 square miles) and had a population density of 228.2 people per square kilometer (591.0 people per square mile) in 2021.
The St. John's CMA includes 12 other communities in addition to St. John's itself: the city of Mount Pearl and the towns of Conception Bay South, Paradise, Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, Torbay, Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove, Pouch Cove, Flatrock, Bay Bulls, Witless Bay, Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove, and Bauline.
As of the 2021 census, the St. John's population centre had 178,427 people. There were 52,410 private dwellings in St. John's, with 90.9% of them occupied. The median value of a private dwelling in St. John's was $309,631, which is lower than the national median of $341,556 but higher than the provincial median of $219,228.
The median age of people in St. John's was 40.5, compared to 41.2 nationally and 46.0 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Children under 15 made up 13.9% of the population, and people aged 65 and older made up 16.5%. Among people aged 25 to 65, 70.6% had a certificate, diploma, or degree from college or university, 20.6% had a high school diploma or equivalent, 7.4% had an apprenticeship or trades certificate, and 8.8% had no such qualifications. The city’s unemployment rate was 8.9%, which is lower than the provincial rate of 15.6% but slightly higher than the national rate of 7.7%.
The 2021 census found that 7,515 people in St. John's were immigrants (born outside Canada), or 7.0% of the total population. The largest groups of immigrants came from the United Kingdom (805 people or 10.7%), the Philippines (625 people or 8.3%), the United States (510 people or 6.8%), India (485 people or 6.5%), Syria (455 people or 6.1%), China (420 people or 5.6%), Nigeria (310 people or 4.1%), Bangladesh (195 people or 2.6%), Pakistan (155 people or 2.1%), and Eritrea (150 people or 2.0%).
As of 2021, 86.5% of the population in St. John's identified as white, 10.1% were visible minorities, and 3.3% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were South Asian Canadians (2.8%), followed by Black Canadians (2.3%), Chinese Canadians, and Arab Canadians (1.3% each).
Note: Totals may exceed 100% because some people reported more than one origin.
English is the most common mother tongue in St. John's, spoken by 92.9% of residents. In the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Chinese is the second most common mother tongue (spoken by 1.1% of the population), followed by French (spoken by 0.6% of the population). Overall, 99.5% of the population in St. John's speaks English, French, or both.
According to the 2021 census, the religious groups in St. John's included:
– Christianity (75,965 people or 70.6%)
– No religion (26,170 people or 24.3%)
– Islam (3,215 people or 3.0%)
– Hinduism (890 people or 0.8%)
– Sikhism (475 people or 0.4%)
– Buddhism (285 people or 0.3%)
– Judaism (175 people or 0.2%)
– Indigenous Spirituality (25 people or 0.1%)
– Other (470 people or 0.4%)
The following information comes from the 2001 Canadian Census and the National Household Survey 2011:
St. John's population was once divided along sectarian (Catholic/Protestant) lines, but this division has decreased over time. The city is home to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John's and the Anglican Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador. Between 2001 and 2011, all major Christian groups saw a decline, while the percentage of people with no religion increased from 3.9% to 11.1%.
Economy
St. John's economy is connected to its role as the provincial capital of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the ocean. Jobs in government supported by federal, provincial, and municipal governments have helped grow the city's workforce and keep its economy stable. This stability supports many businesses, including retail, service, and other industries. After the cod fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador declined in the 1990s, the ocean's importance shifted from fishing to oil and gas resources beneath the sea. St. John's is the main center for oil and gas in Eastern Canada and is one of 19 World Energy Cities. ExxonMobil Canada is based in St. John's, and companies like Chevron, Husky Energy, Suncor Energy, and Statoil have major operations there. Three large offshore oil projects—Hibernia, Terra Nova, and White Rose—are currently producing oil near the city. A fourth project, Hebron, discovered in 1981 and started in 2017, is expected to hold over 700 million barrels of oil and gas that can be used.
The city's economy has grown quickly. In 2010 and 2011, the metro area's gross domestic product (GDP) was the highest among 27 other Canadian cities, according to the Conference Board of Canada, with growth rates of 6.6% and 5.8% respectively. In 2010, the city's per capita GDP of $52,000 was the second-highest among major Canadian cities. Economic predictions suggested continued strong growth in industries related to the ocean, such as oil and gas, as well as in tourism and new home construction as the population increases. In May 2011, the city's unemployment rate dropped to 5.6%, the second-lowest among major Canadian cities at that time.
St. John's is also becoming known for supporting small businesses. A 2009 report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business ranked St. John's as the best major city in Atlantic Canada and 19th overall in Canada for creating a good environment for small business growth.
Tourism is an important part of the province's economy. Cruise ships often add the Port of St. John's to their travel plans as both a starting point and a stop along the way.
Culture
The downtown area of St. John's is the main cultural area in the city and a popular place for tourists in Newfoundland and Labrador and Atlantic Canada. Water Street and Duckworth Street are known for their colorful, old buildings that are not very tall. These streets have many shops, clothing stores, and restaurants that attract visitors.
George Street, a side street near the western end of Water Street, is where most of the city's nightlife happens. This street hosts several annual festivals, such as the George Street Festival in August and the Mardi Gras Festival in October. Many musical groups began their careers on George Street, and the street is often busy with activity most nights of the week.
The LSPU Hall is home to the Resource Centre for the Arts. This building supports a wide range of artistic activities and is considered an important part of the city's arts community. Many famous Newfoundland artists, including Rick Mercer, Mark Critch, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Andy Jones, and Greg Thomey, started their careers here. The St. John's Arts and Culture Centre includes an art gallery, libraries, and a 1,000-seat theatre, which is the city's main place for performances.
In 1967, the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre opened along with the first all-Canadian Dominion Drama Festival. Other places for theatre performances include the LSPU Hall and the Holy Heart School's theatre.
The city has an annual poet laureate to honor poets and their contributions to the community. Two independent film festivals, the Nickel Film Festival and the St. John's International Women's Film Festival, are held each year in St. John's. A Canadian TV show called Republic of Doyle was set in the city and aired from 2010 to 2014. Another TV show, Hudson & Rex, was filmed there.
St. John's has a symphony orchestra, a string quartet, and several choirs. Memorial University of Newfoundland's School of Music has groups like a chamber orchestra. The city also hosts the Tuckamore Festival of chamber music every August since 2001. Opera on the Avalon performs opera shows in the summer. The Kittiwake Dance Theatre, established in 1987, is one of the province's leading dance companies. Kilautiup Songuninga, formed in 2006, was the first Inuit group in St. John's to focus on drum dancing and throat singing.
Lawnya Vawnya is an annual music festival. Another event is The Sound Symposium, which has taken place every two years since 1983. This festival brings together musicians, dancers, and artists from around the world to celebrate music. A special part of the festival is the Harbour Symphony, where ship horns play music every day at noon.
The Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, which started around 1892–1893, was on Duckworth Street in a building recognized as a heritage site. In 2005, the museum, along with the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Archives, moved to The Rooms, a cultural center in the downtown area.
Other museums include the Railway Coastal Museum, located in a 104-year-old train station on Water Street, and the Johnson Geo Centre, a geological center on Signal Hill.
The Murray Premises is a National Historic Site in downtown St. John's. The buildings once were used for drying and storing fish. The oldest building faces Beck's Cove and was built after a fire in 1846. It was renovated in 1979 and now has offices, restaurants, stores, and a hotel.
Signal Hill is another National Historic Site. It overlooks St. John's and has Cabot Tower, built in 1897 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's arrival in Newfoundland and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Signal Hill is where the first transatlantic wireless message was received in 1901. Today, it is a popular tourist spot, and 97% of visitors to St. John's visit Signal Hill. Attractions include the Signal Hill Tattoo, which shows the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Foot, and the North Head Trail, which offers views of the Atlantic Ocean and the coast.
Parks
Pippy Park is an urban park located in the east end of the city. With more than 1,400 hectares (5.4 square miles; 3,500 acres) of land, it is one of Canada's largest urban parks. The park includes many recreational areas, such as two golf courses, Newfoundland and Labrador's largest serviced campground, walking and skiing trails, and protected habitats for plants and animals. Pippy Park also houses the Fluvarium, an environmental education center that provides a view showing different layers of Nagle's Hill Brook.
Bowring Park, located in the Waterford Valley, is one of the most scenic parks in St. John's. Visitors enter the park via Waterford Bridge Road, passing a sculptured duck pond and a statue of Peter Pan. The parkland was donated to the city in 1911 by Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring on behalf of Bowring Brothers Ltd. to celebrate their 100th anniversary of commerce in Newfoundland. The park was officially opened by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught, on July 15, 1914.
Bannerman Park is a Victorian-style park near the downtown area. It was officially opened in 1891 by Sir Alexander Bannerman, Governor of the Colony of Newfoundland, who donated the land to create the park. Today, the park includes a public swimming pool, playground, a baseball diamond, and many large open grassy areas. Bannerman Park hosts several festivals and sporting events, including the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival and St. John's Peace-a-chord. The park is also the finishing location for the annual Tely 10 Mile Road Race.
Nearby, the Lieutenant-Governor's residence is located in a park-like setting that is open to the public.
Memorial University of Newfoundland operates a 45-hectare (110-acre) Botanical Garden.
Near the Johnson Geo Centre, on the lower slopes of Signal Hill, is a small park that includes a fen, a small lake called Deadman's Pond, and a network of walking trails.
Sport
St. John's has been home to several professional hockey teams. The St. John's Maple Leafs played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1991 to 2005. The team moved to Toronto after the 2004–05 season because the parent team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, wanted to save money on travel and have a team at Ricoh Coliseum.
Soon after, the Fog Devils from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) replaced the Maple Leafs. The Fog Devils left St. John's in 2008 after three seasons due to a poor agreement with the city about using Mary Brown's Centre (formerly Mile One Centre) and low attendance.
From 2011 to 2017, the St. John's IceCaps played in the AHL. The team had two different owners during its time in St. John's: one connected to the Winnipeg Jets and another connected to the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams moved closer to their parent teams.
In 2018, the ECHL approved an expansion team called the Newfoundland Growlers. The Growlers became an affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, bringing the Leafs back to St. John's for the first time since 2005. In their first season, they won the Kelly Cup, the ECHL championship. In April 2024, the Growlers stopped operating before the 2023–24 season ended.
In December 2024, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) moved to St. John's. The team was renamed the Newfoundland Regiment in January 2025 to honor the province's military history and began playing in the 2025–26 season.
The St. John's Edge was a professional basketball team in the National Basketball League of Canada. It started as an expansion team in the 2017–18 season at Mile One Centre. The team replaced the IceCaps as the main tenant at the arena after the IceCaps left. In 2021, the Edge did not get a lease extension at Mile One Centre.
In September 2021, the City of St. John's signed a five-year lease with the American Basketball Association to bring the Newfoundland Rogues to Mile One Centre. Soon after, Mary Brown's, a fast food chain from Newfoundland, bought the naming rights to Mile One Centre and renamed it Mary Brown's Centre. The Rogues now play in the Basketball Super League at Mary Brown's Centre.
The Atlantic Rock is a senior men's rugby team that plays in the Canadian Rugby Championship. The team plays its home games at Swilers Rugby Park, like the 2005 and 2006 Rugby Canada Super League champions, the Newfoundland Rock. The city hosted a Rugby World Cup qualifying match between Canada and the United States on August 12, 2006. Canada won 56–7, qualifying for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. The city also hosted the 2007 age-grade Rugby Canada National Championship
Law and government
St. John's is managed by a mayor-council system, and the rules for its government are set by the City of St. John's Act. The St. John's City Council is a single legislative group made up of a mayor, deputy mayor, and nine councillors. The mayor, deputy mayor, and four councillors are elected citywide, while the other five councillors represent specific areas of the city. The mayor and city council members serve four-year terms with no limits on how many terms they can hold.
Elections in St. John's happen every four years on the last Tuesday in September. The current city council was chosen in the 2025 municipal election. The mayor of St. John's is Danny Breen. The St. John's City Hall, located on New Gower Street, has been the home of city offices and council meetings since it officially opened in 1970.
St. John's was the capital of the Colony of Newfoundland and the Dominion of Newfoundland before Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province in 1949. Today, it is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the provincial government is based in the city. The Confederation Building on Confederation Hill houses the House of Assembly and the offices of provincial lawmakers and ministers. The city has nine members of the House of Assembly (MHAs): five from the Liberal Party, two from the New Democratic Party (NDP), one from the Progressive Conservative Party, and one independent.
St. John's is represented in the House of Commons by three members of Parliament. Liberal Joanne Thompson represents St. John's East, Liberal Tom Osborne represents Cape Spear, and Liberal Paul Connors represents Avalon.
The regional federal minister's office for Newfoundland and Labrador is located in downtown St. John's. Offices for Canadian government departments and agencies are found throughout the city.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary provides police services for the city and is the main law enforcement group in the area. The "B" Division headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is in the Pleasantville neighborhood, but the RCMP primarily works in rural areas of Newfoundland and Labrador, not in St. John's.
St. John's has historically been one of the safest cities in Canada. However, crime in the city has increased in recent years. In 2009, national crime rates decreased by 4%, but crime in St. John's increased by 4%. During the same year, violent crime in the city decreased by 6%, compared to a 1% national decrease. In 2010, the total crime severity index for St. John's was 101.9, which was 10% higher than in 2009 and 19.2% above the national average. The violent crime severity index was 90.1, a 29% increase from 2009 and 1.2% above the national average. In 2010, St. John's had the seventh-highest crime index and twelfth-highest violent crime index among Canadian cities.
According to Statistics Canada's Juristat reports (1993–2007), the St. John's metropolitan area had an average homicide rate of about 1.15 per 100,000 people, or about two homicides per year. The highest rate, 2.27 (four homicides), occurred in 1993. This rate is much lower than the national average and is among the lowest in Canada.
In 2004, Patrick "Big Pat" Champoux, a member of the Hells Angels from Montreal, arrived in St. John's. Champoux became a major criminal in the city, committing assaults and damaging bars that refused to pay him money. In 2009, Champoux was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of crimes. Despite this, a report from the Criminal Intelligence Service noted that the Hells Angels still influenced criminal activity in Newfoundland and Labrador through local associates. In June 2013, Allan Winfield Porter and Bradley John Summers were arrested in St. John's for being linked to several cases of arson, shootings, and assaults. Both men were wearing "Support 81" T-shirts at the time of their arrest.
Transportation
St. John's has a large harbor. The harbor is the home base for several Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) ships, including the following: CCGS Ann Harvey – icebreaker, CCGS George R. Pearkes – icebreaker, CCGS Henry Larsen – icebreaker, CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent – icebreaker, CCGS Terry Fox – icebreaker, CCGS Cygnus – patrol vessel, CCGS Leonard J. Cowley – multi role, and CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell – multi role.
St. John's is served by St. John's International Airport, which is located 10 minutes northwest of the city's downtown area. In 2011, about 1,400,000 passengers used the airport, making it the second busiest in Atlantic Canada by passenger numbers. Regular flight destinations include Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, and smaller locations within the province. International destinations include London, Saint-Pierre, Cancún, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Varadero, Cayo Coco, and Montego Bay. Airlines that operate scheduled flights include Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Air Saint-Pierre, Air Transat, Porter Airlines, Provincial Airlines, Sunwing Airlines, and WestJet.
St. John's is the eastern end of the Trans-Canada Highway (Route 1), one of the world's longest national highways. The divided highway, also called the "Outer Ring Road," runs outside the city's main area, with exits to Pitts Memorial Drive (Route 2), Topsail Road (Route 60), Team Gushue Highway (Route 3A), Thorburn Road (Route 50), Allandale Road, Portugal Cove Road (Route 40), and Torbay Road (Route 20). These exits provide easy access to neighborhoods connected by those roads. Pitts Memorial Drive (Route 2) runs from Conception Bay South, through Mount Pearl, and into downtown St. John's, with interchanges at Goulds (Routes 3 and 10), The Parkway (Columbus Drive), Water Street, and Hamilton Avenue–New Gower Street.
The city has many recreational paths, many of which are part of the Grand Concourse. The Grand Concourse includes the path around Quidi Vidi Lake, parts of Signal Hill, downtown streets, along riverbanks, and around other lakes. It also extends into Mount Pearl. There are also many kilometers of paths within Signal Hill National Historic Park, Geo-Vista Park on the lower slopes of Signal Hill, Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden, and Pippy Park.
There are trails used by mountain bikers, trail runners, and walkers on the White Hills, located behind the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP headquarters.
The Trans Canada Trail passes through St. John's. It starts at Cape Spear, goes through Fort Amherst and the Railway Coastal Museum (which was the original mile zero), and continues across the island. The East Coast Trail also passes through St. John's, beginning at Topsail Beach in the north and traveling through Quidi Vidi, Signal Hill, and Water Street before connecting to the Trans Canada Trail at the Railway Coastal Museum. From there, it continues east to Cape Spear and then south to Cappahayden.
Alleys and stairways offer other traffic-free routes and are part of the city's historic character, especially in the downtown area, including the ecclesiastical district.
The St. John's Cycling Master Plan was officially launched in July 2009. The first phase includes 43 km (27 mi) of on-road painted bike lanes, signs on an additional 73 km (45 mi) of roadway, 20 bicycle parking facilities, and bike racks on the 53 Metrobuses. Plans also include shared-use paths, with the first, the Kelly's Brook Shared-Use Path, opening in 2025.
Metrobus Transit provides public transportation in the region. Metrobus has 19 routes, 53 buses, and an annual ridership of 3,014,073. Destinations include the Avalon 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, and other important areas in St. John's and Mount Pearl.
St. John's was the eastern end of the Newfoundland Railway from 1898 until the railway was closed in September 1988.
Medical centres and hospitals
St. John's is served by NL Health Services, the provincial health authority of Newfoundland and Labrador. The city's important hospitals are the Health Sciences Centre, St. Clare's Mercy Hospital, Waterford Hospital, and the Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre.
Education
In the city of St. John's, there are 32 English-language primary, elementary, and secondary schools, including two private schools. St. John's also has two schools that are part of the province-wide Francophone public school district, known as Conseil Scolaire Francophone (CSF). These include two private schools: St. Bonaventure's College and Lakecrest Independent.
The main campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), the largest university in Atlantic Canada, is located in St. John's. The university also has other campuses on Signal Hill and at the Ocean Sciences Centre in Logy Bay, a nearby area. The Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MI), a technical school focused on ocean and marine studies, is based in St. John's and is connected to Memorial University of Newfoundland. MUN offers education at all levels and grants degrees. In 2021, it was ranked among the top ten comprehensive universities in Canada by Maclean's.
The College of the North Atlantic (CNA) is the public college of the province and has two main campuses in St. John's. CNA provides programs for career training, trades, degrees, and university transfers for residents of the city.
St. John's is home to several private colleges and post-secondary schools. The largest of these are Academy Canada, Eastern College, and Keyin College.
Media
St. John's has one daily newspaper called The Telegram. Other local newspapers include The Muse, The Gazette, Le Gaboteur, The Scope, The Business Post, and The Current. St. John's also receives the nationally distributed newspaper The Globe and Mail.
CJON-DT, known on air as "NTV," is an independent television station. The station gets entertainment programming from Global and news programming from CTV and Global, instead of buying the main rights to broadcast these programs. Rogers Cable has its provincial headquarters in St. John's, and their local channel, Rogers TV, shows programs such as Out of the Fog and One Chef One Critic. CBC Television (CBC) has its Newfoundland and Labrador headquarters in the city, and its television station, CBNT-DT, broadcasts from University Avenue.
The city has 15 AM and FM radio stations, two of which are French-language stations. The ITU prefix VO was given to the Dominion of Newfoundland before the province joined Canadian Confederation in 1949, and three AM stations kept their original call letters. However, other commercial radio stations in St. John's that started broadcasting after 1949 use the same range of prefixes (CF–CK) used in other parts of Canada, except for VOCM-FM, which was allowed to use the VOCM callsign because of its connection to an AM station that previously used that callsign. The VO prefix is still used in amateur radio.