Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0174 areas within 10 km are protected for nature. Walkers have 6 mapped routes close by, starting with the Green Timbers Greenway and Serpentine Greenway. The closest of Canada’s national parks is Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, at 38 km.
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Newton is strongest on protected land around it, with the number of public protected areas close by close behind.
Each figure against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (not city hubs or reserves), with the town marked and the typical one’s line. There is no Outdoors grade for Canadian towns; the figures stand beside the country’s towns of 2,500+ without a letter.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (43,555 to 59,664 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
For public protected areas, Newton tops all 39 other towns its size.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dollard-Des Ormeaux QC | 27% | 3.7% | 40 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Langford BC | 27% | 18% | 41 | 7 | 19 |
| 3 | Shawinigan QC | 24% | 61% | 40 | 16 | 10 |
| 4 | Vaudreuil-Dorion QC | 20% | 0.7% | 73 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | Châteauguay QC | 19% | 0.8% | 34 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Mission BC | 19% | 3.5% | 28 | 3 | 33 |
| 7 | Newton BC | 15% | 7.3% | 174 | 6 | 1 |
| 8 | Sault-Saint-Louis QC | 11% | 10% | 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Saint-Eustache QC | 9.9% | 0% | 42 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Pointe-aux-Trembles QC | 9.5% | 7.3% | 38 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Rimouski QC | 8.8% | 3.6% | 43 | 10 | 48 |
| 12 | Salaberry-de-Valleyfield QC | 8.8% | 1.9% | 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | West Vancouver BC | 8.6% | 21% | 56 | 10 | 132 |
| 14 | Vernon BC | 8.4% | 1.9% | 17 | 0 | 27 |
| 15 | Whalley BC | 8.2% | 1% | 125 | 5 | 7 |
| 16 | Hagerman's Corners ON | 6.4% | 0% | 26 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Stouffville ON | 5.9% | 0.5% | 51 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Fabreville QC | 5.8% | 3% | 39 | 0 | 4 |
| 19 | Mascouche QC | 4% | 0% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Port-Maurice QC | 4% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Spruce Grove AB | 3.1% | 0% | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Timmins ON | 2.7% | 1.8% | 7 | 0 | 6 |
| 23 | Alliston ON | 2.1% | 0.4% | 36 | 2 | 3 |
| 24 | Charlottetown PE | 2% | 2% | 15 | 25 | 13 |
| 25 | Quinte West ON | 1.4% | 0.6% | 22 | 3 | 1 |
| 26 | Bradford ON | 1.1% | 1.3% | 28 | 5 | 1 |
| 27 | Brandon MB | 1.1% | 0.9% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Keswick ON | 0.7% | 0.9% | 13 | 1 | 14 |
| 29 | Roseborough ON | 0.7% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Hurontario ON | 0.7% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Rocky View County AB | 0.5% | 0.6% | 20 | 9 | 19 |
| 32 | Paris ON | 0.4% | 0.2% | 26 | 7 | 3 |
| 33 | Woodstock ON | 0.4% | 0% | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 34 | Lakeshore ON | 0.4% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 35 | Churchill Meadows ON | 0.4% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Innisfil ON | 0.3% | 0.1% | 6 | 1 | 17 |
| 37 | Victoriaville QC | 0.2% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Caledonia ON | 0.2% | 0.4% | 17 | 4 | 7 |
| 39 | St. Thomas ON | 0.2% | 0% | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 40 | Cornwall ON | 0.1% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
The neighbourhood’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
Green Timbers Urban Forest is the largest, at 234 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
Two places, Green Timbers Urban Forest and Bear Creek Park, make up 68% of the total.
Source: OpenStreetMap parks, gardens, commons and woods with a name, in the town or within 400 m, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Sizes are the mapped outline’s.
Residents of each 2021 dissemination area, at a point inside it, within 400 m (about a 5-minute walk) of a park or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap.
About 6,000 residents live further than 400 m from one. The usual figure for a Canadian town is 83%, lower than here.
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Of the 174, 172 are public land; the others are privately held. Green Timbers Urban Forest Park leads for size with 171 ha.
30 more named areas within 10 km are in the figures.
Source: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
National parks (Parks Canada) and provincial or territorial parks by direction and distance from the town’s edge: every one within 10 km, and the nearest of each within 100 km.
Peace Arch Park, a provincial park, is nearer at 14 km.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
OpenStreetMap footpaths, paths, bridleways and steps, and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it; woods as mapped (landuse=forest, natural=wood).
It is less wooded than 52% of Canadian towns. It has more footpath per km² than 75% of Canadian towns.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
The longest of the rest is the BC Parkway, 29.8 km.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Pitt Meadows, 13 km away). Good months: long days, highs of 15–30 °C, light rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.6 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 252 | 134 | 173 | 105 | 95 | 69 | 48 | 36 | 94 | 180 | 249 | 214 |
The yearly snowfall is near 37 cm. From 6 °C in December to 25 °C in August: that is the range of daytime highs. Rain and snow peak in January (252 mm) and ease in August (36 mm). The climate in Newton →
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
No open data on beach water quality covers every province, so check with public health before a swim.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
The most common are playgrounds: 169 on the map.
Plus 4 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Plus 2 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Plus 167 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newton | 15% | 174 | 6 | 1 |
| Sullivan 3.1 km | 15% | 190 | 6 | 0 |
| Strawberry Hill 3.1 km | 20% | 158 | 4 | 2 |
| Panorama Ridge 3.2 km | 23% | 181 | 2 | 1 |
| Fleetwood 3.8 km | 7.8% | 162 | 10 | 0 |
| Brownsville 4.3 km | 11% | 119 | 7 | 6 |
| Johnston Heights 4.9 km | 5.8% | 131 | 7 | 6 |
Newton holds its own on protected land: no neighbour has twice its share. More routes are mapped around Fleetwood (10).
The Green Timbers Greenway, Serpentine Greenway and Bear Creek Greenway, among the routes mapped within 2 km.
There is an unnamed beach within 5 km.
Within 10 km, 15% of the land lies in protected areas.
Peace Arch Park, 14 km from the edge of town.
May to September, on the 1991–2020 normals and the daylight: long days, highs of 15 °C or more, light rain for the place.
Green Timbers Urban Forest Park: 171 ha, a municipal park.
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is closest, at 38 km.
Protected areas: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2026: every area within 10 km and the nearest national and provincial parks, measured outline to outline.
Walking routes and beaches: OpenStreetMap, November 2026: named hiking, foot and walking route relations within 2 km and beaches within 5 km.
Towns: Statistics Canada 2021 Census boundaries and populations; the comparison is the Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, not city hubs or reserves.
When to go: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, from the nearest station that publishes them.
Green space, paths, woods, things to do: OpenStreetMap (Geofabrik’s Canada extract), November 2026: parks, gardens, playing fields, woods, footpaths, the coastline and things to do in and around each town.
Residents: Statistics Canada 2021 Census dissemination areas (population, boundaries), each at a point inside it.
Walking routes and beaches © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Not on this page: trailheads and trail grades, and beach water quality. No open Canadian dataset gives these for every town yet.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).