St. John’s, St. John’san, St. John’ser

Saint in St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, is always abbreviated; and the city name ends with an apostrophe s.

• The oldest commercial street in North America is Water Street in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

A native or resident of the city may be called a St. John’ser or a St. John’san.

• St. John’sers enjoy attending the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival held every summer in Bannerman Park.

While the demonyms St. John’ser and St. John’san are found in newspapers and magazines, they are often replaced in more formal writing by native, resident or inhabitant of St. John’s, or some similar phrase.

• The residents of St. John’s are proud to participate in the Royal St. John’s Regatta, North America’s oldest continuing sporting event.

St. John’s is commonly used as a modifier, while St. John’ser is not.

• The sign in front of St. John’s City Hall reads "Mile/Kilometre 0 of the Trans Canada Highway."

St. John’s is commonly used as a modifier, while St. John’ser is not.

• The sign in front of St. John’s City Hall reads "Mile/Kilometre 0 of the Trans Canada Highway."

© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2025
TERMIUM Plus^®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau