Established on January 1st, 1971, the Niagara Regional Police Service is the oldest regional police service in Ontario. In an area of 1,863 square kilometres, the Niagara Regional Police Service patrols one of Ontario's largest geographic Regions. The Niagara Regional Police provide policing and public safety services to an estimated 410, 574 residents and 15,000,000 visitors annually.

The Regional Municipality of Niagara includes three medium density cities: St. Catharines/Thorold, Niagara Falls, and Welland. It includes four medium density towns: Grimsby, Fort Erie, Port Colborne and Niagara on the Lake. The Region includes world renowned tourist attractions such as Niagara Falls, the Welland Canal, and the Shaw Festival, to name a few. Niagara is also one of Canada's richest agricultural areas, with the nation's major soft-fruit growing area located within the Region.

A few of the unique policing challenges facing Niagara are: the combination of urban and rural development; the large annual influx of tourists; its proximity to the United States; the effect of the nation's busiest border crossings; a major summer cottage population in varying communities; and a waterfront shoreline that surrounds the Region on three sides.

* The Niagara Regional Police Service does not keep demographic information on municipalities in the Niagara Region.  Information is provided from Statistics Canada 2001 statistics.  The above information is not dynamic, and does not change as the population changes.  It should be considered only as a guideline for size and population of these areas.