Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador

Paradise is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Paradise is the third largest settlement in the province and is part of the St. John's metropolitan area, the 20th largest metropolitan area in Canada.

History

While parts of Paradise have been inhabited since the late nineteenth century, mainly as farmland, its growth only took off in the 1830s and 1870s as a "bedroom community" of nearby St. John's. It grew at a slow pace until the early 1990s, when the Town of Paradise was amalgamated with the Town of St. Thomas. Other developed areas which had previously been administered by the Southern Metropolitan Board--an agency of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador--were also amalgamated with Paradise. These areas are Three Island Pond, Topsail Pond, Elizabeth Park, and Evergreen Village.

Octagon Castle

Operating from 1896 to 1915, the Octagon Castle was a four-storey, eight-sided hotel resort, named by its creator, "Professor" Charles Henry Danielle.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Destroyed by fire in 1915, its name survives in the nearby Octagon Pond.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, a blue sculptural artwork inspired by Octagon Castle was installed at the centre of a Paradise roundabout.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Precambrian bedrock underlies the town, with a belt of volcanic rock along the coast and clastic sedimentary rock inland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The soil is for the most part a stony loam podzol mapped as Cochrane series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Peat is common in poorly drained areas.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Paradise had a population of Template:Val living in Template:Val of its Template:Val total private dwellings, a change of Template:Percentage from its 2016 population of Template:Val. With a land area of Template:Convert, it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021.<ref name="2021census">Template:Cite web</ref> Based on the 2016 Census, the median income for the Town of Paradise was $107,542 before taxes and a median income of $89,037 after taxes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sports

Paradise is the starting point for the annual Tely 10 Mile Road Race, one of the oldest races in Canada.<ref name="Tely_Location">Template:Cite web</ref> Paradise hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at its Paradise Double Ice Complex<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in September 2019 when the NHL club opened their 2019-2020 training camp in the town.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2019, Paradise hosted the 2019 Para Hockey Cup at its Paradise Double Ice Complex, which saw teams from Canada, The United States of America, Russia, and the Czech Republic participating in the event.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Government

The Paradise town council is made up of a mayor, deputy mayor, and five councillors. The current mayor of the town is Kimberly Street who is filling in the position as former mayor Dan Bobbett resigned September 10, 2025. Patrick Martin, a long time town councilor was named mayor-elect on October 2, 2025 after narrowly defeating fellow councilor, Larry Vaters in the 2025 municipal election.

Paradise is part of three provincial electoral districts; Conception Bay East – Bell Island, represented by Fred Hutton, and Topsail-Paradise, which is represented by Paul Dinn. Sarah Stoodley, the MHA for Mount Scio, also represents the Elizabeth Park subdivision in Paradise, near the Mount Pearl border.

The town is represented in Parliament by one MP, Tom Osborne, MP for Cape Spear.

Paradise federal election results<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year		Liberal		Conservative		New Democratic		Green
rowspan="2" style="width: 0.25em; background-color: Template:Canadian party colour|	2021	Template:Canadian party colour | 47%	4,131	Template:Canadian party colour | 31%	2,706	Template:Canadian party colour | 21%	1,816	Template:Canadian party colour | 0%	0
2019	Template:Canadian party colour | 39%	4,009	Template:Canadian party colour | 26%	2,701	Template:Canadian party colour | 31%	3,217	Template:Canadian party colour | 3%	333

Paradise provincial election results<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year		Liberal		PC		New Democratic
rowspan="2" style="width: 0.25em; background-color: Template:Canadian party colour|	2019	Template:Canadian party colour | 33%	2,132	Template:Canadian party colour | 59%	3,817	Template:Canadian party colour | 2%	124
2015	Template:Canadian party colour | 39%	2,474	Template:Canadian party colour | 51%	3,235	Template:Canadian party colour | 10%	631

2009 mayoral election controversy

On September 29, 2009, Newfoundland and Labrador held municipal elections in its municipalities. Paradise had two people running for mayor – incumbent Ralph Wiseman and 19-year-old Kurtis Coombs.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

On September 30, it was announced that Coombs had won the election, making him the youngest mayor in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He had beat Wiseman by three votes, having 1,821 votes compared to Wiseman's 1,818.<ref name="CBC2">Template:Cite web</ref> However, a recount revealed that the two were tied. Under Newfoundland and Labrador's Municipal Elections Act, a draw is used to determine the winner if a recount results in a tie. Wiseman was announced the mayor when a piece of paper with his name was drawn out of a recycle bin that contained both his name and Coombs'. Coombs planned on requesting a judicial recount and recommended that another election be held.<ref name="CBC2" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On October 6, a judge ordered that the results be recounted again, which took place on October 13.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following day it was announced that the recount resulted in another tie. Joyce Moss, the town's chief returning officer, stated that the result from the random draw will stand, resulting in Wiseman remaining as the town's mayor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Mayors

The current mayor is Kimberley Street, first appointed in 2025. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Dianne Whelan (1986–2003)<ref name=notable>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Fred W. Brown (2003–2005)<ref name=notable/>
• Ralph Wiseman (2005–2013)<ref name=notable/>
• Dan Bobbett (2013–2025)<ref name=mayordan>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kimberly Street (2025-present)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Patrick Martin (mayor-elect October 2, 2025)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Infrastructure

Tuckamore Youth Treatment Centre is a residential treatment centre located in Paradise.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

• Sarah Davis, women's hockey player
• Carl English, professional basketball player

See also

• List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador