Facer is a community in the city of St. Catharines

St. Catharines, Ontario

St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located in the central part of the city, bounded by the Queen Elizabeth Way

Queen Elizabeth Way

The Queen Elizabeth Way, commonly abbreviated as the QEW, is a 400-Series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The freeway links Buffalo, New York and the Niagara Peninsula with Toronto. It begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western shore of Lake Ontario, ending...

 and Welland Avenue to the South, Grantham Avenue to the East, Carlton Street to the North and Niagara Street to the West, with Facer Street being the main access road through the community. Facer is home to a vibrant immigrant community dominated by Polish- and Ukrainian-Canadians, with a sizable minority of Italian-Canadian

Italian-Canadian

An Italian Canadian is a Canadian of Italian descent or heritage. According to the 2006 census of Canada, 1,445,335 Canadians consider themselves to be of Italian origin. The Italian-Canadian population climbed by more than 12% and half have combined Italian origins along with another ethnic...

s in the east end of the community near Grantham Avenue. It is one of the few areas outside of the Greater Toronto Area

Greater Toronto Area

The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...

 where it is common to see store signs posted in a language other than English, with most stores in the area offering services to customers in their native language. Facer is home to the Queen Elizabeth Community Centre, St. Joseph's Bakery, the Canadian Polish Society, authentic Italian cafes, credit union

Credit union

A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...

s serving the Polish and Ukrainian communities, and a number of churches with bilingual services in a number of different languages.