N1R vs N3C

Ontario

This page does not pick a winner. Every row shows two measurements and the gap between them. There is no score, no tally of which area “wins” more categories, and no overall result — those would be a rating of two places and the people who live in them, assembled by the layout.

Both areas are forward sortation areas, and every figure describes the whole of one. Crime is not shown here: it is reported at the metropolitan level, so for two areas in the same city it is usually the same number twice. It is on each area’s own page, with the geography it describes.

Selected 2021 Census figures for N1R and N3C, with the national figure for scale. The last column states the gap between the two areas as a direction and a size, never as a preference.
Measure	N1R	N3C	Canada	Difference
Median household income	$77,000	$114,000	$84,000	N1R is 32% lower than N3C
Median after-tax income	$68,500	$98,000	$73,000	N1R is 30% lower than N3C
Median age	40.8	38.8	41.6	N1R is 5% higher than N3C
Unemployment rate	11.2%	10.4%	10.3%	N1R is 8% higher than N3C
Low income (LIM-AT)	11.3%	4.8%	11.1%	N1R is 2.4× higher than N3C
Average household size	2.5	2.9	2.4	N1R is 14% lower than N3C

Counts for each area. These describe the place and are not compared as ratios.
Measure	N1R	N3C
Population	42,928	27,518
Private dwellings	18,081	9,657
Land area	182 km²	57 km²

Share of each area’s residents with an amenity within reach, weighted by where people live. A blank is a coverage fact, not a zero.
Amenity	Within	N1R	N3C
Grocery store	1 km walk	82%	39%
Public transit	1 km walk	90%	95%
Park	1 km walk	79%	98%
Pharmacy	1 km walk	54%	16%
Child care	1.5 km walk	91%	99%
Primary school	1.5 km walk	88%	78%
Secondary school	1.5 km walk	87%	78%
Library	1.5 km walk	18%	27%
Health care	3 km drive	95%	99%
Employment	10 km drive	100%	100%

These measure how close an amenity is, never its quality. A school 500 m away is a school 500 m away — nothing here says anything about the school itself.
The proximity index is scaled against all of Canada, where 1 is the single most well-served block in the country and the national average is close to zero. It is useful for comparing places and misleading as a score.

What tenants pay, from CMHC’s survey of purpose-built rental buildings. The two areas may sit in different survey zones, or one may not be surveyed at all — that is a coverage fact and is stated rather than left blank.
Unit	N1R	N3C
Studio	$1,225	not published
1 bedroom	$1,659	$1,701
2 bedrooms	$1,934	$1,978
3+ bedrooms	$1,503	not published

Adapted from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Survey, October 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation of this product.

The air quality index is a reading at the nearest station, which may be far away — the distance is shown because it decides whether the reading describes the area at all. Facility counts are reported releases within 10 km.
Measure	N1R	N3C
Nearest AQHI station	Kitchener · 15 km	Guelph · 13 km
Current reading	1.86 — Low risk	2.02 — Low risk
Reporting facilities within 10 km	84	109
Reported releases to air	2,845 t	3,000 t

N1R: Measured at Kitchener, 15 km from N1R. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.
N3C: Measured at Guelph, 13 km from N3C. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.

This page carries the figures the two areas can be set against each other on. Each area’s own page has the rest — including crime, the boundary map, and every source note and caveat in full.

N1R in full · N3C in full

Source: Census Profile, 2021 Census (98-401-X). Data current as of 2026-08-12. Statistics Canada Open Licence. Each figure describes a whole forward sortation area. Amenity, rent and air figures carry their own sources and vintages on the area pages.