Kingston is a home-away-from-home not only for students from Queen’s, but also for those attending the Royal Military College and St. Lawrence College – more than 30,000 students in all. Described by students as both “quaint” and “eclectic,” Kingston is big enough to provide all
the conveniences of modern life, and small enough for students, staff, and faculty to feel instantly comfortable and at home.
- In 2012, Kingston ranked as the third best place to live in Canada (and in 2015, the sixth best place to retire!), according to moneysense.ca.
- In 2013, the BBC listed Kingston as one of the top five university towns in the world.
- According to Instagram in 2014, Kingston is the happiest city in Canada.
Where Is Kingston?
The City of Kingston is located in eastern Ontario, where Lake Ontario flows into the St. Lawrence River, about 200 km from Canada's capital city of Ottawa, about 250 km from the centre of our provincial capital of Toronto, and about 300 km from Montréal, Québec.
Weather in Kingston
Kingston is also one of the most consistently windy cities in Canada (take note, sailors). While temperatures have been known to reach upwards of 34 degrees Celsius in the summer and as low as -34 degrees Celsius in the winter, on most days Lake Ontario has quite a moderating effect on Kingston weather:
- an average January day charts a low temperature of -12° and a high of -3°;
- an average July day charts a low of +16° and a high of +25°;
- over the course of the year, Kingston sees a lot more rain than snow
Queen's has its own weather station too. The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has been measuring temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation since the spring of 2004 from the top of Walter Light Hall.
To learn more about the City of Kingston visit the Queen’s University Discover Kingston page or City of Kingston.