Do you or your group have an awesome idea for an entry in this year’s Annual Downtown St. John’s Christmas Parade? If so we would love to know about it.
Parade applications are now open! Don’t delay as space is limited. For more Parade information visit https://downtownstjohns.com/signature-events/christmas-parade/ .
Click the link below to open the Parade Application.
The 2026 Annual Downtown St. John’s Christmas Parade is set for Sunday, November 29 at noon in beautiful, historic downtown St. John’s.
The 2026 Annual Downtown St. John’s Christmas Parade is brought to you by the Downtown St. John’s Business Commission and sponsored by Newfoundland Power, OZ FM and NTV.
Downtown St. John’s Chair, Jonathan Loder, has written Premier Wakeham, Minister Conway-Ottenheimer, Honourable Joanne Thompson and MP Tom Osborne in support of the recent plea from Mayor Danny Breen concerning the issue of safety and security in downtown St. John’s.
A copy of the letter from Downtown St. John’s Chair, Jonathan Loder, can be read here: https://downtownstjohns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Downtown-Safety-Letter-to-Premier-in-Support-of-Mayor-Breen-Sept-15-2026.pdf
Downtown St. John’s echoes many of the public safety concerns Mayor Breen outlined in his letter to the Premier from August 4, 2026. Many of the issues Mayor Breen referenced are felt most acutely in the Downtown region.
Downtown St. John’s Safety and security have become the primary focus of our organization over the past four years. While we take pride in the fact that Downtown St. John’s stepped up to meet a need and fill a void, our members have become wary of paying for one of the most basic services that should be provided to them as municipal, provincial, and federal taxpayers: safety. Business owners simply cannot and should not be responsible for leading public safety and security initiatives. While safety and security concerns have demanded our full attention, in the meantime our Downtown has fallen into a state of disrepair. We must be able to divert the focus of our efforts on its revitalization.
Downtown St. John’s is requesting a coordinated response from municipal, provincial, and federal governments that must include increased police and security year-round for the area. We are open to how this achieved, whether it be through the establishment of an auxiliary police force as suggested by the City, the creation of a municipal police force (as is normal in many other cities in Canada), or investment into a year-round permanent private sector security officer service.
There are other incremental actions that can be taken (i.e., installation of more CCTV security cameras in the area). Each level of government has tools that can be deployed to address the issues at hand. We encourage a fulsome discussion on what all stakeholders can contribute. Yet the fact of the matter is that without additional uniformed officers in the area to discourage, prevent, and address unwanted activities – these efforts will be ineffective by themselves and in vain.
We should be clear that we understand and appreciate that addiction, homelessness, and mental illness are contributing factors and complex issues that are not easy to solve. This is why, since 2024 we have partnered with Thrive and invested in an initiative that has allowed for dedicated professional staff to engage vulnerable individuals with compassion, respect, and dignity. These efforts have proven to be helpful in their own right, however the reality is that the challenges in Downtown extend far beyond these factors. A healthy community will not materialize in an unsafe and insecure environment; the first step must be to increase the presence of uniformed officers.
Downtown businesses and property owners are exhausted. Downtown St. John’s urgently requests a meeting with representatives from all governments and partners in the community to come to terms with the situation in the Downtown and begin taking action to address it.
Downtown St. John’s strongly encourage all business and property owners to report all criminal activity in the area to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) no matter how insignificant. Community policing is successful when the community works with local police and reports criminal activity. Call 709 729 8000 for assistance and 911 in the case of an emergency. You can file a police report on line at https://www.rnc.gov.nl.ca/
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NL Health Services has revised its plans for the new clinic in the Templeton’s building at 337 Water Street. The new clinic will provide. Upon further review of its infrastructure and operational requirements, NL Health Services has revised its plans for the space. Newcomer Health Services will relocate to the Templeton’s Building. This primary care clinic provides newcomers to Canada, primarily refugees, with time-limited access to health-care services as they transition to ongoing long term primary care services in the community.
The Downtown Health Collaborative and Harm Reduction Outreach team, which had been originally planned for the Templeton’s Building, will instead relocate to 50 Mundy Pond Road once renovations to that site are complete.