Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador

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. Destroyed by fire in 1915, its name survives in the nearby Octagon Pond. In 2022, a blue sculptural artwork inspired by Octagon Castle was installed at the centre of a Paradise roundabout.

Geography

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

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Paradise had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 29.67 km2, it had a population density of in 2021. 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.

Sports

Paradise is the starting point for the annual Tely 10 Mile Road Race, one of the oldest races in Canada. Paradise hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at its Paradise Double Ice Complex in September 2019 when the NHL club opened their 2019-2020 training camp in the town. 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.

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.

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.

On September 30, it was announced that Coombs had won the election, making him the youngest mayor in Canada. He had beat Wiseman by three votes, having 1,821 votes compared to Wiseman's 1,818. 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.

On October 6, a judge ordered that the results be recounted again, which took place on October 13. 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.

Mayors

The current mayor is Kimberley Street, first appointed in 2025.

• Dianne Whelan (1986–2003)
• Fred W. Brown (2003–2005)
• Ralph Wiseman (2005–2013)
• Dan Bobbett (2013–2025)
• Kimberly Street (2025)
• Patrick Martin (2025-present){{cite web |title=Mayor Patrick Martin

Infrastructure

Tuckamore Youth Treatment Centre is a residential treatment centre located in Paradise.

Notable people

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

References

North=Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, St. John's | West=Conception Bay South | Center=Paradise | East=Mount Pearl | South=Conception Bay South, St. John's}}

References

2. (1993). "Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador". Harry Cuff Publications Ltd..
3. Bartlett, Steve. (17 June 2013). "Paradise pond name has fascinating origin". Saltwire.
4. Ping, William. (20 March 2022). "A lost Paradise landmark holds the key to mysterious new blue monument". CBC News.
5. Squibb, Mark. (17 February 2022). "Paradise roundabout art turns heads". The Shoreline News.
6. (4 September 2019). "Mines".
7. (13 December 2013). "Soils of the Avalon Peninsula".
8. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Newfoundland and Labrador". [[Statistics Canada]].
9. (November 29, 2017). "Paradise, T [Census subdivision], Newfoundland and Labrador and Newfoundland and Labrador [Province] (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census.". Statistics Canada, division of the Canadian Government..
10. "START TIME AND LOCATION".
11. (22 September 2021). "Double Ice Complex".
12. (September 14, 2019). "Hockey fans in Paradise, N.L. buzzing with excitement over Leafs training camp". Global News.
13. CBC News, NL. (December 7, 2019). "Canada places 2nd in Para hockey cup, but winning wasn't their only goal". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
14. "Official Voting Results Raw Data (poll by poll results in Paradise)". Elections Canada.
15. "Official Voting Results by polling station (poll by poll results in St. John's)". Elections Newfoundland & Labrador.
16. (April 2020). "2009 Newfoundland & Labrador Municipal Elections Results". [[CJON-TV.
17. (2009-09-30). "Paradise mayor's race won by 19-year-old". [[CBC.ca]].
18. (2009-10-02). "Paradise, N.L., chooses mayor by draw". [[CBC.ca]].
19. (2009-10-02). "Luck of the draw". [[The Telegram]].
20. (2009-10-06). "Recount Paradise election again: N.L. judge". [[CBC.ca]].
21. (2009-10-13). "Incumbent sworn in as Paradise mayoral race ends in another tie". [[The Globe and Mail]].
22. "Mayor Kimberly Street".
23. (2023-09-12). "Notable People".
24. (2024-03-15). "Mayor Dan Bobbett".
25. "Mayor Kimberly Street".
26. (2019-12-19). "Tuckamore Youth Treatment Centre - Mental Health and Addictions".