Construction · OpenStats
OpenStats Building Permit Value
OpenStats
Cities ranked by total Statistics Canada building permit value in the calendar year. Rank 1 is highest value.
4 editions · 2023–2026
#15
Latest · 2026 · of 42
Score 645907000
Ontario
St. Catharines
Garden City at the Welland Canal
St. Catharines in brief
St. Catharines is Niagara Region's largest city, about 51 kilometres across Lake Ontario from Toronto and the northern entrance to the Welland Canal. Chonnonton peoples farmed longhouses here before Haudenosaunee wars and disease emptied the villages in the mid-1600s.
Mississauga territory followed, then Loyalist farms and canal towns. Wine country, the canal, and a lakeshore climate still earn the Garden City nickname.
Drawn from Wikipedia.
Permits, tax, radon & more for St. Catharines
Open the live numbers for St. Catharines. Each link goes to the original topic page for this city.
Follow St. Catharines by email
When St. Catharines moves in a ranking, posts new permit figures, or lands in a study, get a short note. A few sends a year, only when something changes.
No spam. Unsubscribe with one reply.
#35
City Score rank
69%
City Score
6
Owned lists in score
City Score over time
The green line averages OpenStats-owned rankings (radon, permit value, mill rates). Grey dots mark every published placement across all studies below.
Rankings for St. Catharines
Each study below is its own ranking. Where a study has more than one edition for this city, the chart shows standing across those years only.
Composite · OpenStats
OpenStats City Score
OpenStats
Average standing across OpenStats-owned rankings built from public data (currently radon, building permit value, and residential mill rates). Each placement is scored from 0–1 within its edition, then averaged. External livability lists stay on hometown pages as separate published appearances.
Single edition · 2026
#35
Published · 2026 · of 125
Score 0.686
Only one published edition places St. Catharines in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Health · OpenStats
OpenStats Highest Indoor Radon
OpenStats
Communities ranked by Health Canada survey mean indoor radon (Bq/m³). Rank 1 is the highest mean.
Single edition · 2026
#101
Published · 2026 · of 117
Score 57.3
Only one published edition places St. Catharines in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Property tax · OpenStats
OpenStats Residential Mill Rates
OpenStats
Municipalities ranked by residential mill rate. Rank 1 is the highest published rate (higher tax burden).
Single edition · 2024
#20
Published · 2024 · of 43
Score 14.64
Only one published edition places St. Catharines in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Housing
CMHC Average 2-Bedroom Rent — Lowest Rent
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Average rent for purpose-built 2-bedroom apartments (all tenants) from CMHC Rental Market Survey. Rank 1 = lowest average rent among covered CMAs.
Single edition · 2025
#6
Published · 2025 · of 18
Score 1527
Only one published edition places St. Catharines in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.
Housing
CMHC Purpose-Built Rental Vacancy — Highest Vacancy
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Purpose-built rental apartment vacancy rate from CMHC Rental Market Survey (October). Rank 1 = highest vacancy (most available rental stock among covered CMAs).
2 editions · 2024–2025
#4
Latest · 2025 · of 18
Score 3.9
Livability
MoneySense Best Places to Live
MoneySense
Annual composite ranking of Canadian municipalities on economy, housing, crime, health, and weather.
4 editions · 2014–2018
#180
Latest · 2018 · of 415
Worth knowing in St. Catharines
Distinctive local notes and places, each linked to its source.
Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region and the 8th-largest urban area in the province of Ontario.
It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River.
Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 4 square kilometres (1.
The Welland Canal lets ships climb the Niagara Escarpment between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, bypassing Niagara Falls on routes that have shifted four times since the canal opened.
