Situated about 100km west of Toronto is Kitchener, a beautiful city with a small-town vibe. Previously known as Berlin until 1916, Kitchener boasts a rich cultural heritage of Germanic origins.

Kitchener is an exciting city with a combination of nature and parks, great education, and whole range of free-to-attend annual festivals and events. Given its proximity to Toronto and its appealing natural heritage, it’s an ideal city for nature lovers and families looking to settle.

Landmarks and Recreation

Kitchener offers residents and visitors tons of picturesque landscape, a generous climate, and a slew of opportunities to bask in nature. The city boasts of a stunning 220 parks, from nature parks to ski resorts, hiking trails, sports parks, and parks for indoor activities.

Outside of sports and nature, the city hosts tons of festivals each year, with the annual Oktoberfest celebration being the biggest pick of the bunch. The event is the largest Oktoberfest event outside of Bavaria, and draws in an average of 700,000 visitors annually.

Other notable sites include Centre In The Square, Kitchener’s largest theatre and performing arts center, Waterloo Region Museum, Woodside National Historic Site, the 107-hectare Huron Natural Area, and the history-rich Mount Hope Cemetery.

Retail and Infrastructure

Fairview Park Mall is Kitchener’s largest shopping mall, and home to known brands like The Bay and Sears, The Gap, Walmart, and Banana Republic. If your interests lie in hand-crafted products or, you’ll find the bi-weekly Kitchener Market to be a unique shopping experience.

Kitchener boasts of the second highest density of tech startups in the world, with tech giants like Google, Miovision, Shopify, OpenText, and more calling the city home. The city has also seen major recent upgrades in its infrastructure with the completion of the iON LRT.