| Niagara Region | |
| Official Name: | Regional Municipality of Niagara |
| Motto: | Unity, Responsibility, Loyalty |
| Image Map1: | Map of Ontario NIAGARA.svg |
| Mapsize1: | 280px |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Niagara within Ontario |
| Settlement Type: | Regional municipality (upper-tier) |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Name1: | Ontario |
| Seat: | Thorold |
| Leader Title: | Chair |
| Leader Title1: | Governing body |
| Leader Title2: | MPs |
| Leader Title3: | MPPs |
| Leader Name: | Jim Bradley |
| Leader Name1: | Niagara Regional Council |
| Leader Name2: | Dean Allison, Chris Bittle, Vance Badawey, Tony Baldinelli |
| Leader Name3: | Jeff Burch, Wayne Gates, Sam Oosterhoff, Jennie Stevens |
| Established Title: | Formed |
| Established Date: | 1970 (from Welland and Lincoln Counties) |
| Area Land Km2: | 1854.23 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 447,888 |
| Population Density Km2: | 241.5 |
| Demographics Type2: | Gross Metropolitan Product |
| Demographics2 Title1: | St. Catharines – Niagara |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CA$17.4billion (2020)[2] |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | −05:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −04:00 |
| Coordinates: | 43.0425°N -79.3006°W |
| Website: | www.niagararegion.ca |
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
The region occupies most of the Niagara Peninsula. Its eastern boundary is the Niagara River, which is also the border with the US state of New York. It is bounded on the north by Lake Ontario and on the south by Lake Erie.
Unique natural landscapes make the Niagara Region an important centre for agriculture and tourism in Canada. The most important agricultural enterprise in Niagara is viticulture, or winemaking. The Niagara Wine Route, which connects visitors to dozens of wineries, is a growing tourism draw while the internationally renowned Niagara Falls is one of Canada's major tourist attractions. Along with Shaw Festival, held annually in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the Welland Canal, the Regional Municipality of Niagara receives up to 12 million visitors each year.
Niagara Region is situated on treaty land. This land has a rich history of First Nations such as the Neutral, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.[3] There are many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people from across Turtle Island that continue to live and work in Niagara today.
| Name | Type | Sub-region | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Welland | 94,415 | ||
| City | Welland | 20,033 | ||
| City | Lincoln | 136,803 | ||
| City | Welland | 23,816 | ||
| City | Welland | 55,750 | ||
| Town | Welland | 32,901 | ||
| Town | Lincoln | 28,883 | ||
| Town | Lincoln | 25,719 | ||
| Town | Lincoln | 19,088 | ||
| Town | Welland | 18,192 | ||
| Township | Welland | 6,887 | ||
| Township | Lincoln | 15,454 |
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional Municipality of Niagara had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 1852.82km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[4]
Historic populations:
Religious profile
Top ten largest ethnicities
| 2021[5] | 2016[6] | 2011[7] | 2006[8] | 2001[9] | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European | 393,100 | 387,095 | 385,785 | 388,415 | 382,050 | ||||||||||
| Indigenous | 13,960 | 12,250 | 9,055 | 6,930 | 5,185 | ||||||||||
| South Asian | 13,845 | 6,170 | 3,450 | 3,805 | 2,585 | ||||||||||
| African | 13,305 | 7,970 | 6,485 | 5,210 | 3,960 | ||||||||||
| Southeast Asian | 9,715 | 5,950 | 4,525 | 4,310 | 2,580 | ||||||||||
| East Asian | 9,365 | 8,230 | 5,835 | 5,570 | 4,370 | ||||||||||
| Latin American | 6,975 | 4,620 | 3,895 | 4,260 | 1,570 | ||||||||||
| Middle Eastern | 4,610 | 3,430 | 2,230 | 2,120 | 1,485 | ||||||||||
| Other | 4,575 | 2,455 | 1,550 | 1,130 | 810 | ||||||||||
| Total responses | 469,455 | 438,160 | 422,805 | 421,750 | 404,590 | ||||||||||
| Total population | 477,941 | 447,888 | 431,346 | 427,421 | 410,574 | ||||||||||
The area has a higher concentration of human trafficking compared to other regions in Canada, with 3% of recorded incidents taking place within it. The Niagara Region's proximity to the border and large amounts of hotels are considered to be contributing factors to this issue.[10]
West Niagara
East Niagara
This list is not complete and changes every season, see also Niagara Peninsula wineries for more information.
Niagara Region contains three airports used primarily for general aviation:
Aside from scheduled commuter flights between Niagara District Airport and Toronto City with FlyGTA, for commercial flights Niagara residents use Toronto Pearson International Airport, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, or John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area; as well as crossing the border to use Buffalo Niagara International Airport or Niagara Falls International Airport in Upstate New York.
Public transit within Niagara Region is provided by Niagara Region Transit, including scheduled local bus service within Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Thorold and Welland, on-demand transit service in other portions of the Region, and regional bus service between communities in the region.
WEGO is an additional local bus network within Niagara Falls, targeted at visitors rather than residents. The WEGO Green Line is operated by the Niagara Parks Commission and requires separate WEGO tickets, while the remainder of WEGO routes are operated by Niagara Region Transit and accept both Niagara Region Transit and WEGO tickets.
GO Transit provides regional train and bus services from Niagara Falls and St. Catharines to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
VIA Rail serves Grimsby, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls stations as part of the Maple Leaf intercity train between Toronto and New York City, jointly operated with Amtrak.
Many private bus operators operate intercity services to Niagara Region on routes connecting to cities such as Toronto, Buffalo and New York. As of 2023, private bus operators in Niagara Region include Flixbus, Megabus, Equinox, Greyhound, and Trailways.
400-series expressways:
Other highways: