Forest HillKitchener

Fewer households own their home in Forest Hill than in Ontario’s towns or across Canadian towns: 61%

A year’s rent came to a quarter of the median household income, higher than both Ontario’s towns (22%) and Canadian towns (20%). Just over a fifth of households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, close to Ontario’s towns (22%) and above Canadian towns (18%). For rent as a share of income and monthly rent for a two-bedroom, the only official count covers all of the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metro area, Forest Hill included.

Few places match Forest Hill for health: it beats 92% of Canadian towns

The survey finds 53% of adults in very good or excellent health, higher than both Ontario’s towns (51%) and Canadian towns (52%). Smoking is rarer than in the province: nearly one in ten adults, against 11% for Ontario. People in the region live to 82.8 on average: 84.9 for women and 80.7 for men in 2022/2024. Measured from where Forest Hill’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.7 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. Behind health survey and life expectancy sits data gathered across the Waterloo Health Unit, with Forest Hill one part of it.

Forest Hill is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Grand River Conservation Authority

Shared with the rest of the city of Kitchener: earthquake risk

Radon is lower than usual: 4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Earthquake risk in Forest Hill is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.022 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030.

Working-age people in Forest Hill have jobs less often than in 85% of Canadian towns

The car took 84% of commuters, lower than both Ontario’s towns (88%) and Canadian towns (89%). The commute to work averages 26 min.

The schools around Forest Hill answer to 3 boards

Of the 39, one teaches in French (10% of schools in Ontario). The largest is St Mary's High School, with 2,240 students. The 34 with results split, 8 in the upper two fifths in Ontario and 16 in the lower. Taken together, Forest Hill and its 3 km edge hold 34 elementary schools and 5 secondary schools for 22,220 students.

Forest Hill is graded a C+ for safety

The force’s area logs 14.2 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year. Across the area its police cover, the Crime Severity Index averaged 72 over 2023–25, higher than both Ontario’s towns (56) and Canadian towns (67).

January nights in Forest Hill drop to −10.3°C (Ontario towns −9.1°C, Canadian towns −13.5°C)

Snowfall adds up to 115 cm a year, below both Ontario’s towns (146 cm) and Canadian towns (141 cm). Frost usually lifts by 8 May and returns around 5 October: 149 days without it. A normal July brings 96 mm of precipitation, more than any other month. Snow peaks in January: 32 cm in a normal year.

A town of families: 18% of people in Forest Hill are under 15, more than in both Ontario’s towns and Canadian towns

Visible minorities make up nearly a quarter of the population, lower than Ontario’s towns (26%) yet higher than Canadian towns (15%). Over-65s are nearly a fifth of the population.

Expect November days around 7°C in Forest Hill, nights around −2°C

About 9 cm of snow falls in a normal November. Looking ahead to December, expect highs near 1°C and lows near −6°C. Rain and snow over a typical November come to 75 mm. Across the year, normals run from −10°C nights in January to 27°C afternoons in July.

Council seats in Kitchener are spread thin, 29,450 residents each, more than in 98% of Ontario municipalities

As a neighbourhood of Kitchener, Forest Hill shares the council elected in October 2022, with Berry Vrbanovic as mayor.

The nearest public library to Forest Hill is Forest Heights Community Library, 0.8 km away

Kitchener public library serves the whole of Kitchener, so the library figures on this page are the city’s: 292,240 people, Forest Hill among them.

Within 10 km of Forest Hill: 20 public protected areas

46 km from town is Trillium Woods Provincial Park, the nearest provincial park. Biggest among them: Huron Natural Area, 96 ha, 2.7 km off. Within 100 km there is no national park.