Located north of St. John's harbour, it is the business, entertainment, and tourism centre with office buildings, hotels, restaurants, and other services.

In the case of St John's the word "downtown" is ambiguous because it can be both taken literally, and can follow the dictionary.

However, the word "downtown" usually means "the central business district," and its boundaries in St John's are sometimes extended further north and west.

[citation needed] St. John's is one of the oldest cities in North America, with numerous historic buildings from the nineteenth century.

[9] Downtown St. John's is the central business district for the city and is the centre of the oil and gas industry in Eastern Canada.

ExxonMobil Canada has its headquarters in the Cabot Building on New Gower Street, as well Chevron, Statoil and Suncor Energy along with other oil and gas companies have major operations downtown.

There are art galleries, bookstores, and music stores featuring the work of local artists scattered throughout the downtown.