N3R vs N3W

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 N3R and N3W, 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	N3R	N3W	Canada	Difference
Median household income	$83,000	$111,000	$84,000	N3R is 25% lower than N3W
Median after-tax income	$73,500	$95,000	$73,000	N3R is 23% lower than N3W
Median age	45.6	38.4	41.6	N3R is 19% higher than N3W
Unemployment rate	12.1%	9.4%	10.3%	N3R is 29% higher than N3W
Low income (LIM-AT)	8.3%	5.4%	11.1%	N3R is 54% higher than N3W
Average household size	2.4	2.8	2.4	N3R is 14% lower than N3W

Counts for each area. These describe the place and are not compared as ratios.
Measure	N3R	N3W
Population	35,858	15,805
Private dwellings	15,069	5,731
Land area	16 km²	192 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	N3R	N3W
Grocery store	1 km walk	85%	60%
Public transit	1 km walk	1%	0%
Park	1 km walk	93%	75%
Pharmacy	1 km walk	46%	46%
Child care	1.5 km walk	100%	85%
Primary school	1.5 km walk	97%	68%
Secondary school	1.5 km walk	97%	69%
Library	1.5 km walk	29%	42%
Health care	3 km drive	100%	91%
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	N3R	N3W
studio	not surveyed	not surveyed
1	not surveyed	not surveyed
2	not surveyed	not surveyed
3plus	not surveyed	not surveyed

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	N3R	N3W
Nearest AQHI station	Brantford · 1.6 km	Hamilton · 19 km
Current reading	1.98 — Low risk	2.2 — Low risk
Reporting facilities within 10 km	34	25
Reported releases to air	848 t	1,073 t

N3R: Measured at Brantford, 1.6 km from N3R. The index runs from 1 upward and combines ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide into one health-risk scale.
N3W: Measured at Hamilton, 19 km from N3W. 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.

N3R in full · N3W 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.