Canadian City Nicknames

Alberta

Brooks

  • "Alberta's Centennial City"

Calgary

  • "C-Town"
  • "Cowtown"
  • " Heart of The New West", derived from the city's former official slogan
  • "The Stampede City"
  • "The Sandstone City"

Camrose

  • "The Rose City"

Edmonton

  • "The Big E"
  • "Canada's Festival City" or "Festival City", an unofficial city slogan
  • "Canada's Richest Mixed Farming District", an unofficial city slogan
  • "City of Champions", unofficial slogan popularized by former mayor Laurence Decore's characterization of the community's response to the 1987 Edmonton tornado
  • "Crossroads of the World", an unofficial city slogan
  • "Deadmonton"
  • "E-Town"
  • "Edmonchuck" or "The Chuck", in reference to Edmonton's large Ukrainian population
  • "Gateway to the North", an unofficial city slogan
  • "Heart of Canada's Great North West", an unofficial city slogan
  • "Official Host City of the Turn of the Century", an unofficial city slogan
  • "The Oil Capital of Canada", Edmonton's only official slogan adopted by city council, which dates back to 1947
  • "River City"
  • "Smart City", an unofficial city slogan
  • "Top of the World", an unofficial city slogan
  • "Volunteer Capital of Canada", an unofficial city slogan

Fort McMurray

  • "Fort Mac"
  • "Fort MacMoney" or "Fort McMoney"
  • "Fort McMordor"
  • "St. John's North"

Fox Creek

  • "Fox Vegas"

Grande Prairie

  • "Swan City"

Lloydminster

  • "Border City"
  • "Canada's Border City"
  • "Heavy Oil Capital of Canada"

Lethbridge

  • "The Windy City"

Medicine Hat

  • "The City with All Hell for a Basement"
  • "The City with Energy"
  • "The Gas City"
  • "The Hat"
  • "An Oasis on the Prairies"
  • "Saamis", from which Medicine Hat's name is derived, a Blackfoot word for medicine man's hat.

Red Deer

  • "Dead Rear"

Whitecourt

  • "Snowmobile Capital of Alberta"

British Columbia

Abbotsford

  • "Berry Capital of Canada"
  • "City in the Country"
  • "Raspberry Capital of Canada"

Campbell River

  • "Salmon Capital of the World"

Kamloops

  • "The Tournament Capital"

Kelowna

  • "Orchard City"
  • "The Four Seasons Playground"

Nanaimo

  • "Harbour City"
  • "Hub City"

Nelson

  • "Queen City of the Kootenays"

New Westminster

  • "New West"
  • "Royal City"

Oliver

  • "Wine Capital of Canada"

Penticton

  • "The Peach City"

Port Alberni

  • "Salmon Capital of the World"

Port Coquitlam

  • "PoCo"

Powell River

  • "Pearl of the Sunshine Coast"

Surrey

  • "City of Parks"

Trail

  • "Home of Champions"
  • "Silver City"

Vancouver

  • Rain City (or Raincouver or the Wet Coast)
  • Terminal City - refers to Vancouver (or specifically Gastown) being the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
  • Saltwater City - The name for Vancouver used by early Chinese immigrants to the city.
  • Hollywood North - the city is home to the fourth-largest film and television production industry in North America, after L.A., New York and Toronto.
  • The Big Smoke - Vancouver's heavy fogs in combination with the many sawmill burners and other industrial pollution produced thick smog. Common as slang and in casual usage. It is also used outside of BC for Toronto, London, Sydney and other places. Very common in use within BC, especially in the BC Interior, when both Vancouver and the Lower Mainland in general. Culture
  • Vansterdam - Like Amsterdam, Vancouver has a reputation for lax attitudes towards recreational drug use, specifically marijuana.
  • Lotusland - coined by Vancouver Sun writer Allan Fotheringham, Lotusland refers to Homer's Odyssey, in which the hero, Odysseus, visits a land whose inhabitants are befuddled by a narcotic lotus (the "Land of the Lotus-Eaters"). It sometimes is used to describe all of British Columbia.
  • City of Glass - taken from the title of a Douglas Coupland book, this name reflects the dominant steel-and-glass architectural aesthetic of the city's downtown.
  • No Fun City - a long-time nickname which can refer to a variety of things depending on use and context. It can refer to some of the city's cultural policies that result in a less lively local music scene, to a perceived "lame" nightlife.
  • Blandcouver - similar to 'No Fun City,' often used self-deprecatingly by locals who think Vancouver's cosmopolitanism is over-hyped.
  • Hongcouver - A name with xenophobic connotations, it came into use in the 1980s and 1990s. Although Vancouver has had a large Chinese community from its earliest days, the Chinese population surged as large numbers of Hong Kong citizens immigrated prior to the British handover of that city in 1997.
  • Van - common outside of BC and as an abbreviation V-town - virtually unused in BC, but in moderate use within Alberta East Van - not common outside of BC, but most residents of East Vancouver use this
  • Vancity - popular with the Canadian hip hop community (also the name of a credit union, Vancity)
  • The 'Couve - Very rare in Vancouver, BC, but instead frequently used to refer to Vancouver, Washington.

Victoria

  • "The Garden City"
  • "City of Newly Weds and Nearly Deads"

Manitoba

Brandon

  • "Wheat City"

Churchill

  • "Polar Bear Capital of the World", used as a tourist attraction slogan due to the population of polar bears.

Steinbach

  • "Automobile City"

Thompson

  • "The Centennial City"
  • "Hub of the North" or "Hub City"
  • "Nickel City"

Winnipeg

  • "Chicago of the North"
  • "Gateway to the West"
  • "The Peg"
  • "Slurpee Capital of the World"
  • "Wholesale City"
  • "Winnerpeg", often used when the Winnipeg Jets win.
  • "Winterpeg", due to Winnipeg's very long and cold winters

New Brunswick

Fredericton

  • "Celestial City"
  • "City of Stately Elms"
  • "Freddy Beach"

Moncton

  • "Hub City"

Saint John

  • "Canada's Most Irish City", due to its role as a destination for Irish immigrants during the Great Irish Famine
  • "Canada's Original City", referring to Saint John being the first incorporated city in Canada
  • "Fundy City"
  • "Loyalist City", due to its role as a destination for American British supporters following the American Revolution.
  • "Port City", due to its role in the shipbuilding industry in the 19th century.

Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's

  • "City of Legends"
  • "Newfiejohn", a nickname given by American servicemen in World War II
  • "Sin Jawns"
  • "Town", as St. John's is the only major urban area in Newfoundland, going across the island to "town" is heading to St. John's.

Nova Scotia

Antigonish

  • "The 'Nish"

Halifax

  • "Hali"
  • "The Fax"

Ontario

Brampton

  • "Bramladesh", a derogatory nickname in reference to the large South Asian community, particularly those from Bangladesh.
  • "Flower City"

Cambridge

  • "The Tri-City", referring to the adjacent cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge/

Chatham

  • "The Classic Car Capital of Canada"

Guelph

  • "The Royal City"

Hamilton

  • "Ambitious City"
  • "The Hammer"
  • "Steeltown"

Kitchener

  • "The Tri-City", referring to the adjacent cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge

Kingston

  • "The Limestone City", in reference to the large number of historical buildings constructed from local limestone.

London

  • "The Forest City"

Markham

  • "Canada's High-Tech Capital"

Mississauga

  • "Sauga"

Niagara Falls

  • "Honeymoon Capital of the World"

North Bay

  • "Gateway to the North"
  • "Gateway City"
  • "Smoothie Capital of the World"
  • "The Bay"

Oshawa

  • "Canada's Motor City"
  • "The 'Shwa"

Ottawa

  • "Bytown", the city's official name prior to 1855; still used as a nickname in the media
  • "O-Town"

Owen Sound

  • "Chicago of the North"
  • "Little Liverpool"
  • "The Scenic City"

Peterborough

  • "Electric City"

Sault Ste. Marie

  • "The Soo"

Scarborough

  • "Scarberia", a derogatory nickname based on Scarborough's reputation a barren, faraway land to the east of Toronto.
  • "Scarlem", a derogatory nickname which associates Scarborough with the inner-city crime of Harlem, New York.

St. Catharines

  • "St. Kitts"
    "The Garden City"

Sudbury

  • "Nickel Capital"
  • "Nickel City"
  • "City of Lakes"

Thunder Bay

  • "Canada’s Gateway to the West"
  • "Lakehead"

Toronto

  • "Queen City"
  • "Hogtown"
  • "T.O.", derived from Toronto, Ontario
  • "T-Dot"
  • "The Big Smoke"
  • "The 6ix", originating from a Toronto native rapper, Drake, who coined the nickname based on the shared digits of the 416 and 647 Toronto area codes.

Waterloo

  • "The 'Loo"
  • "The Tri-City", referring to the adjacent cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.

Windsor

  • "City of Roses"
  • "Automotive Capital of Canada"

Prince Edward Island

Charlottetown

  • "Birthplace of Confederation"

Quebec

Montreal

  • "Québec's Metropolis", "La Métropole du Québec" in French.
  • "The City of Saints"
  • "La métropole", French for "The Metropolis"
  • "La ville aux cent clochers", French for "The City of a Hundred Steeples"
  • "Sin City", a historical nickname from the prohibition-era
  • "The City of Festivals"

Quebec City

  • "La Vieille Capitale"

Saskatchewan

Kelvington

  • "Canada's Hockey Factory"

Moose Jaw

  • "Band City"
  • "The Jaw"
  • "Little Chicago"

Prince Albert

  • "P.A."

Regina

  • "The Queen City"
  • "Pile o' Bones"
  • "The City That Rhymes With Fun"

Saskatoon

  • "The Bridge City"
  • "Hub City"
  • "Paris of the Prairies"
  • "POW City", for its resources in potash, oil and wheat
  • "Saskabush"
  • "Toontown"

Swift Current

  • "Speedy Creek"

Northwest Territories

Yellowknife

  • "Diamond Capital of North America"

Yukon

Dawson City

  • "Paris of the North"

Whitehorse

  • "The Wilderness City"