St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's
—  City  —
City of St. John's
Top - St. John's Skyline, Middle left - The Rooms, Bottom left - Water Street, Right - Cabot Tower
Flag
Nickname(s): "The City of Legends"
Motto: Avancez (French: "Go forward")
Location of St John's in Newfoundland
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Census division	1
Established	August 5, 1583 by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I
Government
- Type	City Council
- Mayor	Dennis O'Keefe
- Governing body	St. John's City Council
- MPs	List of MPs Jack Harris Siobhán Coady
- MHAs	List of MHAs Ed Buckingham John Dinn Kathy Dunderdale Keith Hutchings Lorraine Michael Sheila Osborne Tom Osborne Kevin Parsons Bob Ridgley Shawn Skinner
Area
- City	446.04 km2 (172.2 sq mi)
- Urban	182.62 km2 (70.5 sq mi)
- Metro	804.63 km2 (310.7 sq mi)
Elevation	Sea Level 0–147 m (0–483 ft)
Population (2006)
- City	100,646
- Density	225.6/km2 (576.0/sq mi)
- Urban	151,322
- Urban density	828.67/km2 (2,146.2/sq mi)
- Metro	181,113
- Metro density	225.1/km2 (556.6/sq mi)
- Demonym	Townie
	20th Largest metropolitan area in Canada
Time zone	NST (UTC-3:30)
- Summer (DST)	NDT (UTC-2:30)
Area code(s)	709
NTS Map	001N10
GNBC Code	ABEFS
Website	St. John's website

St. John's (pronounced /ˌseɪntˈdʒɒnz/, French: Saint-Jean) (2006 population 100,646; UA population 151,322; CMA population 181,113) is the provincial capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.

St. John's is the most populous Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in the province, it is the second largest CMA in the Atlantic Provinces after Halifax, and 20th largest metropolitan area in Canada with a population of 187,700.^[1][2] The city enjoys a long and vibrant history as the oldest English-founded city in North America.^[3]

In 2009, the St. John's CMA was the fastest growing metropolitan area in Newfoundland and Labrador and Atlantic Canada as well it was the seventh fastest growing metropolitan area in Canada.^[4] The CMA includes the neighbouring city of Mount Pearl and eleven other towns, the largest of which are Conception Bay South and Paradise.^[5]

The last half of the 20th century has seen St. John's, with a long and prosperous history in the fishery industry, transformed into a modern export and service centre, famed for its nightlife and rich musical culture. More recently, its proximity to recently discovered oil fields has led to an economic boom that has spurred population growth, commercial development and has resulted in the St. John's area now accounting for about half of the province's economic output.^[6]

History

Referred to as "North America's Oldest City", St. John's is the oldest settlement in North America to hold city status, with year-round settlement beginning sometime before 1620.^[3] It is not, however, the oldest surviving English settlement in North America or Canada, as is often wrongly believed, with Cupids (originally called Cuper's Cover), founded in 1610, Bristol's Hope, founded in 1618, and possibly Harbour Grace^[7][8] Tradition declares that the city earned its name when explorer John Cabot became the first European to sail into the harbour, on June 24, 1497 — the feast day of Saint John the Baptist.^[9] However, the exact locations of Cabot's landfalls are disputed. A series of expeditions to St. John's by the Portuguese in the Azores followed in the early 16th century, and by 1540 French, Spanish and Portuguese ships crossed the Atlantic annually to fish the waters off the Avalon Peninsula. In the Basque Country, it is a common belief that the name of St. John's was given by Basque fishermen because the bay of St. John's is very similar to the Bay of Pasaia in the Basque Country, where one of the fishing towns is also called St. John (in Spanish, San Juan).

Plaque commemorating Gilbert's founding of the British Empire

The earliest record of the location appears as São João on a Portuguese map by Pedro Reinel in 1519. When John Rut visited St. John's in 1527 he found Norman, Breton and Portuguese ships in the harbour. On August 3, 1527, Rut wrote a letter to King Henry on the findings of his voyage to North America; this was the first known letter sent from North America. St. Jehan is shown on Nicholas Desliens' world map of 1541 and San Joham is found in João Freire's Atlas of 1546. It was during this time that Water Street was first developed, making it the oldest street in North America.

On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the area as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. At the time, he found 16 English ships with 20 French and Portuguese vessels using the harbour; at the time, settlement had developed on the north side of the harbour.^[10] There was no permanent English settler population, however, and Gilbert was lost at sea during his return voyage, thereby ending any immediate plans for settlement. The Newfoundland National War Memorial is located on the waterfront in St. John's, at the purported site of Gilbert's landing and proclamation.

By 1620, the fishermen of England's West Country had excluded other nations from most of the east coast. In 1627, St. John's was "the principal prime and chief lot in all the whole country". The resident population grew slowly in the 17th century, but St. John's was by far the largest settlement in Newfoundland when English naval officers began to take censuses around 1675. Every summer the population swelled with the arrival of migratory fishermen. In 1680, fishing ships (mostly from South Devon) set up fishing rooms at St. John's, bringing hundreds of Irish men into the port to operate inshore fishing boats.

The town's first significant defenses were probably erected due to commercial interests, following the temporary seizure of St. John's by the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter in June 1665. Regardless of the identity of those who built the defenses, the inhabitants were able to fend off a second Dutch attack in 1673. The British government began to plan fortifications around 1689, and these were constructed following the retaking of St. John's after the French admiral Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captured and destroyed the town late in 1696. The French attacked St. John's again in 1705 and captured it in 1708, and devastated civilian structures with fire before withdrawing.

Water Street, St. John's (2005)

The harbour remained fortified through most of the 18th and 19th century. The final battle of the Seven Years' War in North America (the French and Indian War) was fought in 1762 in St. John's. Following a surprise capture of the town by the French early in the year, the British responded, and at the Battle of Signal Hill, the French surrendered St. John's to British forces under the command of Colonel William Amherst.

The eighteenth century saw major changes in Newfoundland: population growth, beginnings of government, establishment of churches, reinforcement of commercial ties with North America and development of the seal, salmon and Grand Banks fisheries. St. John's grew slowly, and although it was still primarily a fishing station, it was also a garrison, a centre of government and, increasingly, a commercial hub. St. John's served as a naval base during both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Shanawdithit, the last known individual of Newfoundland's indigenous Beothuk people, died in a St. John's hospital of tuberculosis in 1829.

The core of the city was destroyed by fire several times, the most famous of which was the Great Fire of 1892.

Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John's on December 1901 from his wireless station in Poldhu, Cornwall.^[11]

U.S. Army troops on guard in St. John's in 1942

St. John's was the starting point for the first non-stop transatlantic aircraft flight, by Alcock and Brown in a modified Vickers Vimy IV bomber, in June 1919, departing from Lester's Field in St. John's and ending in a bog near Clifden, Connemara, Ireland.^[12] In July 2005, the flight was duplicated by American aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett in a replica Vickers Vimy aircraft, with St. John's International Airport substituting for Lester's Field (now an urban and residential part of the city). ^[13]

During the Second World War, the harbour supported Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy ships that were engaged in anti-submarine warfare. It was also the site of a American Army Air Force base that was established as part of the "Lend-Lease" agreement between the UK and USA. The base was transferred to Canadian control in 1960 and is now known as CFS St. John's.

Geography

The city is located on the northeast coast of the Avalon Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland, and on the Atlantic Ocean.^[15] It is the most easterly city in North America excluding Greenland, as well as the second largest city in Atlantic Canada after Halifax, Nova Scotia.^[16][17] The downtown area lies to the north of St. John's Harbour, and the rest of the city expands uphill to the west, north, and east.

The native vegetation is dominated by coniferous trees such as black spruce, white spruce, and balsam fir. The largest deciduous tree is white birch; species of lesser stature include alder, cherry and mountain ash. Of introduced tree species, sycamore maple is most abundant^[18] and Norway maple is common. Blue spruce, common horsechestnut, European beech and littleleaf linden are among the other non-native species grown.

Soils in the area tend to be stony and shallow. They also are strongly acidic in most cases, and have pale leached topsoils typical of podzols. Often the topsoils are much finer-textured than the parent material (atypical for podzols).

Climate

St. John's is known as "Canada's Weather Champion" this is because of all major cities in Canada, St John's is the cloudiest (only 1,497 hours of sunshine a year), snowiest (322 centimetres (127 in)), windiest (24.3 kilometres per hour (15.1 mph)) and has the most wet days per year, at around 216. St. John's has a humid continental climate (Koppen Dfb) with cool-to-warm summers, and relatively mild winters. In fact, St. John's has the third mildest winter in comparison to other major Canadian cities. Mean temperatures range from −5.4 °C (22.3 °F) in February to 15.5 °C (59.9 °F) in August, showing somewhat of a seasonal lag in the climate. The annual precipitation is moderate to high, with an average of 1510 mm per year. 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.

Cityscape

Downtown St. John's

Architecture

The architecture of St. John's has a distinct style from that of the rest of Canada, and its major buildings are remnants of its history as one of the first British colonial capitals. Buildings took a variety of styles according to the means available to build the structures. Starting 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. Like many other cities of the time, as the Industrial Revolution took hold and new methods and materials for construction were introduced, the landscape changed as the city grew in width and height. The Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the downtown core, and most residential and other wood-frame buildings date from this period. Often compared to San Francisco because of its hilly terrain and steep maze of residential streets, housing in St. John's is typically painted in bright colours, unlike most other parts of Canada.^[20] The city council have implemented strict heritage regulations in the downtown area, including restrictions on the height of buildings.^[21] These regulations have caused much controversy over the years. With the city experiencing an economic boom a lack of hotel rooms and class A office space has seen proposals put forward that do not meet the current height regulations. Heritage advocates argue that the current regulations should be enforced while others believe the regulations should be relaxed to encourage economic development.^{[22][23][24][25]} To meet the need for more office space downtown, without compromising the city's heritage, city council ammended heritage regulations, which restricted heigh beyond 15 meters, in area of land on Water Street between Bishop's Cove and Steer's Cove to create the "Commercial Central Retail - West Zone". This zone will allow for buildings of greater height, the first to be approved in this area is a 47 meter, 12 story, office building which includes retail space and a parking garage.^[26][27]

Downtown St. John's

Demographics

Population

The information below is from the 2006 Canadian Census.

The population of the City of St. John's was estimated to be 100,646 in 2006, while the St. John's Census Metropolitan Area, which comprises 12 other communities, had a population of 181,113. In 2007, St. John’s CMA recorded the largest population increase of all CMAs in Atlantic Canada driven by intraprovincial migration. By 2008, the population was estimated at 187,700.^[2]

Population trend[28] Census Population Change (%) 2006 100,646 1.5% 2001 99,182 -2.7% 1996 101,936 -2.6% 1991 104,659 N/A

Mother tongue language (2006)[29] Language Population Pct (%) English only 95,555 96.10% Other languages 3,420 3.43% French only 355 0.35% Both English and French 95 0.09%

Ethnic Groups (2006) Race Population Pct (%) White 96,475 97.03% South Asian 875 0.88% Chinese 800 0.80% Black 520 0.52% Other 760 0.76%

Religion

Basilica of St. John the Baptist

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The information below is from the 2001 Canadian Census.^[30]

Overwhelmingly Christian, the population of St. John's was once divided along sectarian (Catholic/Protestant) lines. In recent years, this sectarianism has declined significantly, and is no longer a commonly acknowledged facet of life in St. John's. St. John's is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John's, and the Anglican Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.

^[31]

Ethnic origins

Many of the earliest settlers of St. John's came from the southwest of England, especially the West Country and Devon in particular, and southeast Ireland, primarily Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny. These origins can still be detected in similarities between the original dialects of each of these regions and the traditional St. John's accent.

View of St. John's from The Rooms

Economy

The St. John's economy has been continuously 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 sizable retail, service and business sector. The provincial government is the largest employer in the city, followed by Memorial University.^[32][33]

With the collapse of the fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador the role of the ocean is now tied to what lies beneath it – oil and gas - as oppose to what swims in or travels across it. The city is the centre of the oil and gas industry in Eastern Canada, ExxonMobil Canada is headquartered in St. John's and companies such as Chevron, Husky Energy, Suncor Energy and Statoil have major regional operations in the city. The economy is growing quickly, and St. John's has been identified as having one of the highest proportion of scientists and engineers per capita of any city under one million population in North America. At $52,000 the city's per capita GDP is the second highest out of all major Canadian cities.^[34] Economic forecasts suggest that the city will continue its strong economic growth in the coming years not only in the "oceanic" industries mentioned above, but also in tourism and new home construction as the population continues to grow. 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.^[35]

Arts and culture

Duckworth Street

The downtown area is the cultural hub of St. John's and is a major tourist destination in Newfoundland and Labrador. Both Water Street and Duckworth Street are known for their brightly coloured low rise heritage buildings which house numerous tourist shops, clothing boutiques, and restaurants.

St. John's has a vibrant nightlife, George Street is a downtown side-street above the western end of Water Street and is the predominant home of the city's nightlife. The street is believed to have the most pubs and bars per square foot of any street in North America, and bars on the street are open later than most others throughout the country. George Street holds numerous annual festivals including the George Street Festival in August and the Mardi Gras Festival held 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.

The LSPU Hall is home to the Resource Centre for the Arts. The "Hall" hosts a vibrant and diverse arts community and is regarded as the backbone of artistic infrastructure and development in the downtown.^[36] The St. John's Arts and Culture Centre houses an art gallery, libraries and a 1000 seat theater, which is the city's major venue for entertainment productions.^[37]

The Nickel Film Festival and the St. John's International Women's Film Festival are two independent film festivals held annually in St. John's.^[38]

Attractions

Museum

The Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador (c. 1892-3) was located on Duckworth Street, the building is listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.^[39] In 2005 the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, moved into The Rooms, Newfoundland and Labrador's cultural facility, which located in the downtown area.^[40]

The Railway Coastal Museum is a transportation museum located in the 104 year old Newfoundland and Labrador train station building on Water Street.^[41]

The Johnson Geo Centre is a geological interpretation centre located on Signal Hill.^[42] The centre is designed to teach the public about the history of the earth through the unique and complex geological history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Urban parks

Pippy Park is an urban park located in the east end of the city; with over 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 the Fluvarium, an environmental education centre which offers a cross section view of Nagle's Hill Brook.^[43]

Bowring Park is located in the Waterford Valley and 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 a statue of Peter Pan. The park land was donated to the city in 1911 by Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring on behalf of Bowring Brothers Ltd. on their 100th anniversary of commerce in Newfoundland. The park was officially opened by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught.^[44]

Bannerman Park is a Victorian-style park located near the downtown. The park was officially opened in 1891 by Sir Alexander Bannerman, Governor of the Colony of Newfoundland who donated the land to create the park.^[45] Today the park contains a public swimming pool, playground, a baseball diamond and many large open grassy areas. Bannerman Park plays host to many festivals and sporting events, most notably the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival and St. John's Peace-a-chord and is also the finishing location for the annual Tely 10 road race.

Signal Hill

Signal Hill is a hill which overlooks the city of St. John's. It is the location of Cabot Tower which was built in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland, and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The first transatlantic wireless transmission was received here by Guglielmo Marconi on December 12, 1901.^[46] Today, Signal Hill is a Canadian National Historic Site^[47] and remains incredibly popular amongst tourists and locals alike; 97% of all tourists to St. John's visit Signal Hill. Amongst its popular attractions are the Signal Hill Tattoo, showcasing the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of foot, circa 1795, and the North Head Trail which grants an impressive view of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding coast.^[48][49]

Sports

King George V Park

Mile One Centre

• St. John's is home to North America's oldest annual sporting event, the Royal St. John's Regatta, which dates back to at least 1816. The event is considered important enough in the life of the city that the day of the Regatta (the first Wednesday with fine weather in August) is a civic holiday — one of the few weather-dependent holidays in the world.^[50]
• Bannerman Park in St. John's is the location of the finish line for the Tely 10, one of the oldest road races in Canada.^[51]
• St. John's played host to the Canada Men's Soccer team's first (and only) qualification for the FIFA World Cup on September 14, 1985 where they defeated Honduras 2-1, at King George V Park. The park also played host to a FIFA World Cup Qualification game on August 20, 1972, where Canada beat USA 3-2. Canada, however, failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1974.
• Rugby union is a popular sport in St. John's. The Rock, the Eastern Canadian entry in the Americas Rugby Championship play their home games at Swilers Rugby Park in St. John's, as did the Rugby Canada Super League champions for 2005 & 2006, the Newfoundland Rock. The city was also host to a Rugby World Cup qualifying match between Canada and the USA on 12 August 2006, where the Canadians heavily defeated the USA 56-7 to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals in France. The 2007 age-grade Rugby Canada National Championship Festival was held in the city.^[52]
• The 1972 MacDonald Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, was held in St. John's from March 6 to 11, 1972.^[53]
• The 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's curling championship, was held at Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador from February 19 to 27, 2005.^[54]
• The 2006 Olympic gold medalist men's curling team, skipped by Brad Gushue, is based in St. John's.^[55]
• St. John's was the home of the St. John's Fog Devils, a junior hockey team in the QMJHL that played at Mile One Centre from 2005–2008. The team left town after just three seasons due to many reasons, notably a poor lease arrangement with the city over the use of Mile One Centre and attendance problems.^[56]
• The St. John's Maple Leafs of the AHL played in St. John's from 1990–91 until the 2004–2005 season, first at Memorial Stadium and then at Mile One Centre, after which they relocated to Toronto, Ontario and became the Toronto Marlies.^[57]

Government

Citizens of St. John’s are represented by three tiers of government. The federal representation consists of two members of parliament serving in the Parliament of Canada. At the provincial tier, there are seven elected members who serve in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. The municipal tier consists of a mayor, deputy mayor and 9 city councilors, that serve on the St. John's City Council.

The Colonial Building was the seat of the Newfoundland Government between 1850 -1959

The St. John's City Hall is located on New Gower Street and has housed municipal offices and Council Chambers since being officially opened in 1970.^[58] St. John's has a partial ward system with a Mayor, Deputy Mayor, five ward councillors and four councillors at large.^[59] The current mayor of the city is Dennis O'Keefe.^[60] O'Keefe has served in this capacity since winning a by-election in June 2008. Municipal elections in St. John's are held every four years on the last Tuesday in September. The last election was held on September 29, 2009.^[61][62]

St. John's served as the capital city of the Colony of Newfoundland and the Dominion of Newfoundland before Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province in 1949. The city now serves as the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, therefore the provincial legislature is located in the city. The Confederation Building, located on Confederation Hill is home to the House of Assembly along with the offices for the MHA's and Ministers.^[63][64] The city is represented by seven MHA's, six who are members of the governing Progressive Conservative Party, and one seat that belongs to New Democratic Party leader Lorraine Michael, who has the only NDP seat in the province.^[65]

St. John's is represented by two Members of Parliament; St. John's South—Mount Pearl MP, Liberal Siobhán Coady and St. John's East MP, New Democrat Jack Harris.^[66] The Newfoundland and Labrador office for the regional federal minister is located in downtown St. John's. Regional offices for Federal Government Departments and Agencies are also located throughout the city.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads

St. John's is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway. Victoria, British Columbia is the western terminus.^[67] The divided highway, also known as "Outer Ring Road" in the city, runs just outside the main part of the city, with exits to Pitts Memorial Drive, Topsail Road, Team Gushue Highway, Thorburn Road, Allandale Road, Portugal Cove Road and Torbay Road, providing access to the neighbourhoods of those streets relatively easy. Pitts Memorial Drive runs from Conception Bay South, through the city of Mount Pearl and into downtown St. John's, with interchanges for the Goulds, Water Street and Hamilton Avenue-New Gower Street. Pitts Memorial Drive has been criticized for less-than-ideal road conditions. The Parkway is another major thoroughfare in the city.

The St. John's Cycling Master Plan was officially launched in July 2009. The first phase will consist of 43 kilometres of on-road painted bike lanes, signs on an additional 73 kilometres of roadway, the installation of 20 bicycle parking facilities and the addition of bike racks on the fleet of 53 Metrobuses.^[68]

Air

St. John's is served by St. John's International Airport, located 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) northwest of the city. Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Air Labrador, Air Saint-Pierre, Air Transat, CanJet, Continental Airlines, Porter Airlines, Provincial Airlines, Skyservice, Sunwing Airlines and Westjet offer flight services provincially, nationally and internationally.^[69]

Public transit

Metrobus is responsible for public transit in the region.^[70] Metrobus has a total of 19 routes, 778 bus stops, 68 bus shelters, 53 buses and an annual ridership of 3,156,854.^[71] 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, the Goulds, Kilbride, St. John's, Shea Heights, the four hospitals in the city as well as other important areas in the St. John's and Mount Pearl.^[72]

St. John's was the eastern terminus of the Newfoundland Railway until the abandonment and closure of the railway in September 1988.^[73]

Public safety

Policing services for the city is provided by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, which serves as the primary policing body of the metropolitan area.^[74] The B Division headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is located in the Pleasantville neighbourhood but the RCMP primarily operate in the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador and not St. John's.^[75]

The city has historically had a crime rate much lower than the national average and was considered one of the safest cities in Canada. In recent years crime in St. John's has increased, in 2009 total crime in the city increased by 4% while nationally crime decreased 4%. While the total crime rate has increased in the city the violent crime has decreased, between 2008 and 2009 violent crime decreased 11%.^[76][77]

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 two homicides 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.^[78]

St. John's Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador

Education

St. Bonaventure's College

Grade schools

St. John's is served by the Eastern School District, the largest school district in Newfoundland and Labrador by student population.^[79] There are currently 36 primary, elementary and secondary schools in the city of St. John's, including three private schools and the Newfoundland School for the Deaf.^[80] St. John's also includes one school that is part of the province-wide Conseil Scolaire Francophone (CSF), the Francophone public school district.^[81] It also contains two private schools, St. Bonaventure's College and Lakecrest Independent.

Universities and colleges

Atlantic Canada's largest university, Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), is located in St. John's.^[82] MUN provides comprehensive education and grants degrees in several fields and its historical strengths in engineering, business, geology, and medicine, make MUN one of the top comprehensive universities in Canada.^[83][84] The Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland (MI) or simply Marine Institute, is a post-secondary ocean and marine polytechnic located in St. John's and is affiliated with Memorial University of Newfoundland.^[85]

The College of the North Atlantic (CNA) is the public college of the province and operates two main campuses within the city. CNA provides career, trade, and university-transfer programs for St. John's residents.^[86] The city also hosts a number of private colleges and post-secondary schools; Academy Canada, Eastern College, and Keyin College comprise the largest of these schools.^[87]

Media

Cabot Tower, the site of the first trans-Atlantic wireless message

St. John's is currently the only Canadian city served by radio stations whose call letters do not all begin with the letter C. The ITU prefix VO was assigned to the Dominion of Newfoundland before the province joined Canadian Confederation in 1949, and three AM stations kept their existing call letters. However, other commercial radio stations in St. John's which went to air after 1949 use the same range of prefixes (CF–CK) currently in use elsewhere in Canada, with the exception of VOCM-FM, which was permitted to adopt the VOCM callsign because of its corporate association with the AM station that already bore that callsign. VO also remains in use in amateur radio.

St. John's is served by several local papers. The main paper is The Telegram, which is Newfoundland and Labrador's largest daily newspaper and the only daily local newspaper for the city.^[88] Others includeThe Muse, The Gazette, Le Gaboteur, The Scope, and The Current. St. John's also receives the nationally distributed newspapers The Globe and Mail and the National Post.

NTV is an independent station, headquartered in St. John’s. The station sublicenses entertainment programming from Global and news programming from CTV and Global, rather than purchasing primary broadcast rights as most independent stations do. Rogers Cable has its provincial headquarters in St. John’s, and their community channel Rogers TV airs local shows such as Out of the Fog and One Chef One Critic. CBC has its Newfoundland and Labrador headquarters in the city and their television station CBNT broadcasts from University Avenue. CBAFT is Radio-Canada's television service in Atlantic Canada which serves Franco-Newfoundlanders.

Cultural references

St. John's is mentioned as "Ole St. John's" in the Newfoundland song, Heave Away, an anchor-heaving song from an unknown year.^[89]

Sister cities

• Waterford, Ireland

See also

• List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador
• Newfoundland and Labrador

Further reading

Harding, Les. Historic St. John's: The City of Legends. Jesperson, 1993. ISBN 0-921692-52-8
Galgay, Frank. Olde St. John's: Stories from a Seaport City. St. John's: Flanker, 2001.

References

External links

• City of St. John's
• Early Newfoundland Settlement Schemes
• Newfoundland and Labrador's Provincial Register of Historic Places
• St. John's and Area
• Documentary film Rain, Drizzle, and Fog
• Trail Canada Guide

Subdivisions of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland · Labrador · Nunatsiavut · Other islands Census divisions 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 Cities Corner Brook · Mount Pearl · St. John's Other communities Bishop's Falls · Bonavista · Botwood · Carbonear · Channel–Port aux Basques · Clarenville · Conception Bay South · Deer Lake · Ferryland · Fogo · Gander · Grand Bank · Grand Falls–Windsor · Happy Valley–Goose Bay · Harbour Grace · Hopedale  · Labrador City · Marystown · Nain · Norris Arm · Pasadena · Peterview · Placentia · Red Bay · St. Anthony · Stephenville · Twillingate · Torbay · Woody Point · Makkovik Category:Newfoundland and Labrador  · Portal:Newfoundland and Labrador  · WikiProject:Newfoundland and Labrador

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