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Waterloo, Ontario
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Ontario

Waterloo

Block Two farms become a university city

Waterloo in brief

Waterloo shares Waterloo Region with Kitchener and Cambridge, about 94 kilometres west of Toronto but outside the GTA. After the American Revolution, Joseph Brant secured the Haldimand Tract along the Grand River for Six Nations allies of the British.

Mennonite and German settlers later bought Block Two farms that grew into the city. Nearby West Montrose Covered Bridge and the Bean Puzzle Tombstone remain favourite local oddities.

Drawn from Wikipedia, Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura.

Permits, tax, radon & more for Waterloo

Open the live numbers for Waterloo. Each link goes to the original topic page for this city.

PermitsBrowseBuilding permits overviewTaxProperty tax for WaterlooInternetInternet for WaterlooRadonRadon for WaterlooHazardsHazards for WaterlooWaterWater quality for Waterloo

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#25
City Score rank
78%
City Score
2
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.

0%25%50%75%100%20142015201620172018202320242026
OpenStats City ScoreIndividual published rankings

Rankings for Waterloo

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

#25
Published · 2026 · of 125
Score 0.78

Only one published edition places Waterloo in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

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

#90
Published · 2026 · of 117
Score 66.5

Only one published edition places Waterloo in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

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

#34
Published · 2024 · of 43
Score 11.19

Only one published edition places Waterloo in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Livability

Globe and Mail Most Livable Cities

The Globe and Mail

2023 data partnership with Environics Analytics ranking 439 Canadian communities on ten livability categories.

Single edition · 2023

#56
Published · 2023 · of 439

Only one published edition places Waterloo in this study so far. Open the edition for method notes and the full table.

Original source · Full edition

Worth knowing in Waterloo

Distinctive local notes and places, each linked to its source.

  • It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.

    Wikipedia

  • Waterloo is situated about 94 km (58 mi) west-southwest of Toronto, but it is not considered to be part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

    Wikipedia

  • At the time of the 2021 census, the population of Waterloo was 121,436.

    Wikipedia

  • Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics was founded in Waterloo in 1999 with major backing from BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis.

    Wikipedia

Places to see

Bean Puzzle Tombstone

An enigmatic epitaph for two buried brides in Wellesley that took more than a century to decode.

Related guides

Indoor radonBuilding permitsMill ratesNatural hazardsBroadbandWater hardnessConstruction PulseStudies

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