St. Catharines

St. Catharines is where the Welland Canal climbs out of Lake Ontario. Ships, steel and machine shops have shaped the city for generations, and a university sits on the escarpment above it. We want to know the people who keep its shops running and the students who could join them.

Aspirational. We have no presence in St. Catharines yet. This page says why we want relationships, partnerships and resources there, and what we hope to build with them.

What we have seen

Two of the manufacturers in START Sparks, our record of investments across the corridor from July to September 2026, are in St. Catharines:

The same brief notes that Ontario announced additional postsecondary seats at Brock University and Niagara College, including STEM and trades seats, in the same window as the investments.

What we would like to build

• Visits to working shops. Tours of fabricators and machine shops, for members, students and the curious.
• A bridge to the campus. Projects and placements that put students next to a bench and the people who run one.
• Training close to the work. Short courses shaped by what local shops say they need, alongside our training plans.
• Space. Conversations about benches, bays and storage near the canal and the highway.

Help shape it

If you run a shop in St. Catharines, teach or study nearby, or own a building that could host a bench, we would like to hear from you. See also Niagara Falls and Fort Erie along the river, and Hamilton, where we begin.

References

• START Issue 1: Sparks
• START Issue 1: Ontario Corridor Brief