The Niagara Regional Campus recognizes and acknowledges that we are located on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe nations. This territory, covered by the Upper Canada Treaties, is within the lands protected by the “Dish With One Spoon” Wampum agreement.

Learn more about the significance of land acknowledgment here.

The Niagara Region consists of 12 distinct and vibrant communities, all within a short drive from one another. They range from cities, urban in style and attitude, to towns and villages, rural and relaxed in nature, with each offering its own unique choice of recreational and educational opportunities. Joined to New York State by four international bridges, Peace Bridge, Rainbow Bridge, Whirlpool Bridge and Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, Niagara, Canada is minutes from Buffalo, NY and a ninety-minute drive from Toronto.

Located in the Niagara Peninsula’s southwestern corner where Lake Erie enters the Niagara River, the Town of Fort Erie offers the best of both worlds blending small-city living with the convenience of nearby large metropolitan areas, Toronto and Buffalo. Fort Erie is home to one of North America’s oldest and most attractive racetracks. As a border community, Fort Erie is home to a large population of newcomers to Canada.  Fort Erie is also the site of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre which serves many of the Indigenous people in the region.

The City of Port Colborne is a destination steeped in marine heritage. Located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, Port Colborne easily becomes the place to stop during your next daytrip to Niagara’s south coast. This community is passionate about innovation and workforce development.

The Township of Wainfleet is a rural township located in the Southern Niagara Region between the Welland River and the shores of Lake Erie. Wainfleet is a community grounded in agriculture, family, and rural traditions. Enjoy camping and resort areas, the beaches of Lake Erie and the clean country air.

The City of Welland, is home to one of the genuinely authentic recreational canals in Canada, with the Welland Recreation Corridor running through the city’s downtown core. Located in the heart of the picturesque Niagara Region, Welland is just minutes from neighbouring cities. Visitors are attracted to the area’s natural beauty, as they enjoy festivals, downtown restaurants, heritage buildings, waterfront music concerts, multi-cultural attractions, year-round sport competitions, and outdoor events. Welland is also home to a world class flat-water rowing and training facility.

A vibrant city located in the heart of Niagara Region. Niagara Falls provides a vast array of year-round activities for the entire family. Beautifully maintained biking and walking trails line the world-famous Niagara gorge while numerous golf courses, ball diamonds, playing fields, swimming pools and rinks unite local citizens.  Niagara Falls is more than a bustling tourist destination and provides employment and recreation opportunities for many citizens.  Niagara Falls is the site of the new Niagara Health South Niagara site which is slated to open in 2026.

Often called the loveliest town in Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake has a long and distinguished history. Today, its many attractions include historic sites – Fort George and the Historical Society Museum, the Shaw Festival in its three theatres, the marina, and the world-famous Niagara wineries.

Nestled in the heart of Niagara, the Town of Pelham, a fusion of rural and urban communities offers a unique lifestyle rich in history, agriculture, and commercial industries. Pelham’s central location makes it an ideal community for commuters, life-long residents, and businesses old and new. With state-of-the-art facilities (Meridian Community Centre) to heritage sites (Comfort Maple Conversation Area), Pelham embraces technological and urban change while preserving a small-town feel and nostalgia of days gone by.

The City of Thorold lives to the beat of its own rhythm and is seeing rapid growth in housing and development owing to its central location in the Niagara penninsula. Thorold is one of Canada’s most historic cities and is home to the famous Twin Flight Locks. Rich in history and spread over approximately 8,490 hectares of residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial land, it is the perfect place to visit and call home.

St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada’s Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. The City of St. Catharines offers many amenities and opportunities to both residents and visitors to live, work and play. Also known as “The Garden City”, the city ensures quality of life enhanced through unique festivals, historical sites, cultural attractions, authentic wine and culinary experiences.

The Town Of Grimsby is the personification of a small town. Its quiet, tree-lined avenues, its rural area, the natural Niagara Escarpment which winds through the town’s centre, the beaches on the shores of Lake Ontario, and its many parks define “home” to the town’s 27,000 people. Visitors come to Grimsby Beach to enjoy the Gingerbread houses that are affectionately painted by owners in bright colours.  Grimsby is home to West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, a site of Hamilton Health Sciences, and construction is ongoing to build a new hospital to serve this growing community.

Town of Lincoln is located in the heart of Niagara region, with one of the most diverse economies in Niagara. Lincoln encompasses  the communities of Beamsville, Vineland, Jordan, Campden, Tintern, and Rockway. The town and villages are filled with over 50 wineries, fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers, heritage sites, and natural attractions such as the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario.

One of the twelve lower tier municipalities in Niagara Region, the Township of West Lincoln is made up of many rural communities such as the hamlets of St. Ann’s, Silverdale, Bismark, Caistorville, Fulton, Grassie and Wellandport among others. From scenic back roads with vast farmlands and meandering rivers to canoeing on Twenty Mile Creek or the Welland River, the Township of West Lincoln has something for everyone.

Students can obtain a Universal Buss Pass (U-PASS) for use in St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara Falls, Welland, Fort Erie, Pelham, and the Niagara Regional Transit Systems. The U-Pass is effective from Sept 1 until the end of the academic year. There is no Universal Bus Pass from May 1^st until August 31. For more information, please visit the Brock Transit webpage

Niagara Region Transit (NRT) serves Fort Erie, Grimsby, Lincoln, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls, Pelham, Port Colborne, St. Catharines, Thorold, Wainfleet, Welland, and West Lincoln. Download the Transit (Route App) to book your next trip. All NRT buses operate year-round. There is no Sunday or statutory holiday services.

NRT onDemand is a ridesharing pilot project for communities in West Niagara. Rideshare is a transportation option that uses smartphone technology and a fleet of dedicated vehicles to provide trips within the service boundaries with no fixed schedules or routes.

NRT OnDemand lets riders request trips in real-time through the app or over the phone by selecting a pickup point and destination.

Pelham Transit uses the NRT OnDemand App to offer transit for everyone and connect you to more possibilities in Niagara.

Welland Transit has joined forces with more than 200 cities and connecting riders to bus routes through the Transit app.

Niagara Falls Transit offers convenient and accessible travel options to get you where you want to go. Pick up an i-Ride card, a reloadable “smart card” that will replace tickets and monthly passes, these cards can be loaded with either pre-paid rides or as a time-based pass. Click here to learn more about the i-Ride Pass Card.

Coach Canada is one of the largest transportation companies in North America, providing local and inter-city transportation services for communities including St. Catharines.

MegaBus, is the first, low-cost, express bus service to provide intercity travel for as low as $1. A luxury double-deck bus that offers free Wi-Fi, panoramic windows, and a green alternative way to travel.

GO Transit service to Niagara Falls is your best bet to beat the traffic. GO Transit operates a train from Niagara Falls GO to Toronto Union Station which departs at 11:15 am, 3:15 pm, and 7:15 pm daily. From the Niagara Go Station, one can enjoy hop-on and hop-off access to the local WEGO bus to get you to all of the local attractions. When the Niagara GO train isn’t available, you can jump on the Lakeshore West GO train to Burlington and transfer to GO Bus Route 12 to get to Niagara. This will drop you off at the Niagara Falls Bus Terminal, across the street from the Niagara Falls Train Station.

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft services are offered in the region. Please note, that these services may not be widely available in the region, but are available in SOME parts of the region.

Owning or having access to a vehicle will be necessary to be able to fully participate in the program, particularly in the varied clinical opportunities across the region. Given the limited inter-city transit, it may be difficult to navigate (especially with call shifts, etc.) if you do not have a vehicle.

Every year our current medical students advertise housing opportunities through the Facebook group for incoming students. A link to the group page will be shared via a welcome email from the O-Week team.

Upper-year colleagues can also be a resource to find housing. May students live in the same buildings/areas in St. Catharines and are an excellent resource for incoming students.

There are plenty of options for students looking for housing in the Niagara Region. Visit the Brock View Rentals, St. Catharines Apartment and Housing Rentals, Kijiji and Miz Rentals, Places 4 Students, Rentals 101, Skrtich Living, and Niagara Student Living.

Waterloo Regional Campus is situated on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Specifically, our Campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes ten kilometers on each side of the Grand River.

Learn more about the significance of land acknowledgment here.

The Waterloo Region is a mid-sized community located in the heart of southwestern Ontario’s greenbelt. This region offers three cities that offer their own unique attractions.

The City of Waterloo is home to two of the highest-ranked universities in the country. Uptown Waterloo is a thriving urban center with award-winning architecture, unique shops, and fantastic restaurants. Due to the close proximity of the City of Kitchener to Waterloo, the two together are often referred to as the “Twin Cities”.

The City of Kitchener, the Region’s largest city, is a hub of urban activity. Kitchener is an innovative, caring, and vibrant city and a place for everyone. The city is where beautiful brick factories have been transformed into condos that flank a modern light rail system. Kitchener is also a City of the Future, anchored by Canada’s Innovation Corridor, and its startup density is second only to Silicon Valley. Kitchener is famous for Canada’s largest Bavarian Festival, Oktoberfest, held over nine days in the twin cities of Kitchener-Waterloo.

Kitchener-Waterloo is steeped in the Mennonite culture with one of the best farmers’ markets in the province, St. Jacob. The region is one of the provinces’ leading tech hubs with Google Canada’s Waterloo-based engineering headquarters, just at the Waterloo Regional Campus’ backyard, and the University of Waterloo’s Velocity Incubator, which equips and guides founders to build companies that scale at the earliest stages of business building.

Waterloo-Wellington Region is a combination of several cities and many rural communities. Due to the growing technology sector, Waterloo Region is also one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Whether or not you choose to make the Waterloo Region your home, between Medical Foundations and Clerkship, you will get to know these communities well.

The City of Cambridge forms communities of Galt, Preston, Hespeler, and Blair to make up the current city of Cambridge. Cambridge is a modern city with a rich architectural heritage still clearly seen today. Cambridge is now the second largest community within Waterloo Region, partly due to their strong economy and culture. Cambridge is famous for the filming location of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

The City of Guelph has an unmistakable identity, also known as “The Royal City”, named after one of the family names of the British royal family. From its booming craft beer scene, and a vast array of independent eateries, Guelph is a city to be savored. Guelph is one of Canada’s largest cities that relies entirely on groundwater for its drinking water supply. Guelph has 1000 hectares of parks and open space with over 70km of trails.

Surrounding peaceful rural landscape, comprising the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich, in addition to Wellington North, Elora, and Fergus. These distinct towns and historic communities as well as farms offer maple syrup, apple butter, cheese, and Mennonite furniture and quilts.

Many points in the area have easy access off the 401 which leads to beautiful rural rolling hills, conservation area hiking, and a range of farm gate experiences. The villages provide respite to the traveler with opportunities to rest, relax and enjoy specialty retail.

To learn more about what these regions offer, visit:

Explore Waterloo Region

Visit Guelph

Discover Wellington County

Elora & Fergus Tourism

Grand River Transit (GRT) offers transit services in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Elmira, St. Jacobs and New Hamburg. This system includes the ION light rail system. To plan your route, use the GRT trip planner.

GO Transit has a Kitchener station, which is a railway station located slightly to the northeast of downtown Kitchener at 126 Weber Street East, near the corner of Victoria Street. The GO Transit operates a train from Kitchener GO to Toronto Union Station every 4 hours. Via Rail also services this route twice daily.

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft services are offered in the region.

Owning or having access to a vehicle can be beneficial for the students’ learner experience at all three McMaster campuses.

Every year our current medical students advertise housing opportunities through the Facebook group for incoming students. A link to the group page will be shared via a welcome email from the O-Week team.

There are plenty of options for students looking for housing in Kitchener or Waterloo. Please use the “University of Waterloo’s Off-Campus Housing” website, Kijiji, and other local housing companies including Domus Housing and Rentals.ca.