St. Catharines, Ontario

Benchmark housing price: $598,800
Population: 136,803

Like many a mid-sized Canadian city, St. Catharines slumped through the last half-century. General Motors, the biggest employer, scaled back operations, the downtown hollowed out and the city’s brightest saw opportunities elsewhere. But now there’s reason for a reverse migration.

There will be new jobs, especially in the agri-tourism industry (all those Niagara wineries), in construction (emerging neighbourhoods and office-to-condo conversions) and in education (the new entrepreneurial and science-driven university rising in nearby Niagara Falls). All this action means the historic main drag, St. Paul Street, has come back to life, sprouting restaurants like retro pizza shop Di’s, butcher-centric Fat Rabbit and, that ultimate proof that a city is a happening place, artisanal vegan doughnut bakery Beechwood, site of a daily queue out the door (the wise reserve ahead). The hubbub only intensified with the recently added daily GO train service, which makes St. Catharines an official Toronto commuter town. If two hours sounds too long, a planned hovercraft route across Lake Ontario could cut that commute to half an hour.

Lucky for newcomers looking for a bargain, house prices remain low. In fact, this year, the price of a typical house dropped by 1.2 per cent from the previous May, while the time on market increased 48 per cent over the same period (no concerns about bidding wars). Newcomers do double-takes at the bargains. You can own a button-cute workers’ cottage on a quiet, leafy street for under $400,000. For a few hundred thousand more, you can live out your mid-century-mod dreams in a side split with a backyard that can accommodate a pool, a hot tub, an outdoor kitchen and, heck, throw in a pickleball court while you’re at it. In the century-old neighbourhoods encircling downtown, Arts and Crafts mansions (also with king-size yards) go for around a million.

There’s also the simple fact that St. Catharines is jaw-droppingly beautiful. They don’t call it the Garden City for nothing: green space, like the hiker’s paradise of the Twelve Mile Creek or the Frederick Law Olmsted–designed, rose-filled Montebello Park, is never more than steps away. Near the top of the Niagara Escarpment, the 2022 Canada Games organizers built a striking, green-roofed facility, the Walker Sports and Abilities Centre, that’s now the local destination for hockey, volleyball, workouts and wellness. In the fall, after the grape harvest has been crushed and the maples turn, idyllic Henley Island plays host to the Cicada Music and Art Festival, which has evolved over the last decade into a weekend-long celebration of folk and indie music. ­

Recently Listed

4 Thompson Avenue
Price tag: $688,800
The place: A three-bedroom home with hardwood floors, an eat-in kitchen, and a yard with two sheds, a patio and gazebo

30 Mcghie Street
Price tag: $484,900
The place: A two-bedroom home in central St. Catharines with a large back deck and yard. The kitchen was completely remodelled in 2023, with a vaulted ceiling and stainless-steel appliances

11 Facer Street
Price tag: $599,000
The place: A fully renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom home. The finished basement has a separate entrance and could double as a granny suite

78 Leaside Drive
Price tag: $649,000
The place: A three-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow with a huge backyard and proximity to the Welland Canal Parkway Trail

This story appears in the September issue of Maclean’s. Buy the single issue here or subscribe to the magazine here.