| Counties of New Brunswick | |
|---|---|
| Location | Province of New Brunswick |
| Number | 15 |
| Populations | 10,998 (Queens) – 163,576 (Westmorland) |
| Areas | 1,461 km2 (Saint John) – 12,843 km2 (Northumberland) |
| Government |
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| Subdivisions | |
TheCanadian province ofNew Brunswick has 15 counties, originating in the British tradition of local courts for civil and judicial administration that were officiated by the colony's appointedmagistrates.
Counties, parishes and shiretowns are delineated in the Territorial Division Act.[1] While no longer administrative divisions,[2] they continue to define regional communities and have many legacy functions and provincial applications. They figure prominently in residents' sense of place and continue as significant threads in the Province of New Brunswick's cultural fabric (i.e., most citizens always know which county they are in).
Counties are used as the basis ofcensus divisions[b] byStatistics Canada in thenational census, while their parishes are the basis forcensus subdivisions.
The push for responsible government would see the municipal system of elective local government replace the magistracy, and in 1877 it was made mandatory that the province's county courts of sessions would municipalize.[3][c]
"Sweeping" reforms of theRobichaud premiership in 1966 ceased all county local government function, consequent to the government'sNew Brunswick Equal Opportunity program which brought about dissolution of county entities in favour of a ministerial upper tier, among other reforms local government related or otherwise.
Counties were not replaced with another form of regional local government. Instead, many small village municipalities were created, with the surrounding predominantly rural areas financing local services and facilities throughlocal service districts until thereform of local governance in 2023.
The partitioning ofNova Scotia at the close of theAmerican Revolutionary War was discreetly attributed by the British to the distance between the St. John river communities and the administrative centre at Halifax.[5] The arrival of American Loyalist refugees saw the population in the colony grow abruptly, with many directed to Sunbury county's Wolastoq/Saint John river.
Initially, when Nova Scotia's authorities established counties for the first time in 1759, the vast territory of formerAcadia to the north ofKings County was erected asCumberland, until in April 30, 1765, when the county was sectioned for the residents of the townships along the coastline and in the lowerSaint John River valley.[6] The new county was calledSunbury.
It would not be until 24 May 1770 that a boundary would be established between the two counties. Sunbury’s western boundary was described as starting at the head of theSt. Croix River, following the north line to the Saint John River and then to the southern Canadian border. This description actually overlapped a part ofMaine’s territory, as you would have needed to go far west, towards the area near the source of theChaudière River. On the east the boundary with Cumberland ran north by the magnet from a point 20 miles up from Mispec.[7] No further changes would be made until 1785, when the recently partitioned New Brunswick province's government established new counties.[8]
New Brunswick was created on June 18, 1784.[9] The province was divided into eight counties by decree of GovernorCarleton:Charlotte,Kings,Northumberland,Queens,Saint John,Sunbury,Westmorland andYork. In January 1786, the first session of theNew Brunswick Legislative Assembly was held in Saint John, at which the MLA’s passedAn Act for the better ascertaining and confirming the Boundaries of Several Counties within this Province, and for subdividing them into Towns or Parishes.[10] As the council worked on developing the original county lines, they desperately needed maps of the province, which, at the time, they seemingly lacked. As a result, they relied on two maps byJoseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres from 1780, the best candidates for a map of New Brunswick at the time.[11] As the new boundaries were established, the former counties of Cumberland and Sunbury were disregarded, with the exception of the starting point of the boundary between Westmorland and Northumberland counties, which shared a resemblance to the old boundaries, though this might have been a coincidence.[12]
The county lines were strategically drawn to align with the watersheds, a logical decision given that New Brunswick's settlements were developed along waterways.[13] Additionally, the counties were able to be divided into three groups: the Bay of Fundy, the Saint John River and the North Shore.[14]
| County[15] | Shire town[15] | Established[16] | Origin[16] | Etymology | Population (2021)[17] | Population (2016)[17] | Change[17] | Land area (km2)[17] | Population density (per km2)[17] | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert County | Hopewell Cape (Now part ofFundy Albert) | 1845 | Erected fromWestmorland County | Prince Albert, husband ofQueen Victoria. | 30,749 | 29,158 | +5.5% | 1,806.23 | 17.0 |  |
| Carleton County | Woodstock | 1831 | Erected fromYork County | Thomas Carleton, the firstLieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. | 26,360 | 26,178 | +0.7% | 3,309.06 | 8.0 |  |
| Charlotte County | Saint Andrews | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | Queen Charlotte, wife ofKing George III. | 26,015 | 25,428 | +2.3% | 3,418.24 | 7.6 |  |
| Gloucester County | Bathurst | 1826 | Erected fromNorthumberland County | Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, fourth daughter ofKing George III. | 78,256 | 78,444 | −0.2% | 4,734.30 | 16.5 |  |
| Kent County | Richibucto (Now part ofBeaurivage) | 1826 | Erected fromNorthumberland County | Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, father ofQueen Victoria. | 32,169 | 30,475 | +5.6% | 4,550.38 | 7.1 |  |
| Kings County | Hampton | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | To express loyalty toThe Crown. | 71,184 | 68,941 | +3.3% | 3,482.35 | 20.4 |  |
| Madawaska County | Edmundston | 1873 | Erected fromVictoria County | TheMadawaska River, derived from aMaliseet word meaningunknown. | 32,603 | 32,741 | −0.4% | 3,454.97 | 9.4 |  |
| Northumberland County | Newcastle (Now part ofMiramichi) | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | TheNorthumberland Strait | 45,005 | 44,952 | +0.1% | 12,843.39 | 3.5 |  |
| Queens County | Gagetown (Now part ofArcadia) | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | To express loyalty toThe Crown and after early settlers fromQueens,Long Island,New York. | 10,998 | 10,472 | +5.0% | 3,681.05 | 3.0 |  |
| Restigouche County | Dalhousie (Now part ofHeron Bay) | 1837 | Erected fromGloucester County | TheRestigouche River, derived from theMi'kmaq name meaningfive-fingered river. | 30,700 | 30,955 | −0.8% | 8,566.82 | 3.6 |  |
| Saint John County | Saint John | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | TheSaint John River. | 76,558 | 74,020 | +3.4% | 1,461.05 | 52.4 |  |
| Sunbury County | Burton | 1785[d] | One of the original 8 counties. | Viscount Sunbury, thecourtesy title ofGeorge Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax. | 27,864 | 27,644 | +0.8% | 2,692.97 | 10.3 |  |
| Victoria County | Andover (Now part ofSouthern Victoria | 1850[e] | Erected fromCarleton County | Queen Victoria | 18,312 | 18,617 | −1.6% | 5,492.85 | 3.3 |  |
| Westmorland County | Dorchester (Now part ofTantramar) | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | The county ofWestmorland inNorth WestEngland. | 163,576 | 149,623 | +9.3% | 3,659.74 | 44.7 |  |
| York County | Fredericton | 1785 | One of the original 8 counties. | Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son ofGeorge III. | 105,261 | 99,453 | +5.8% | 8,095.10 | 13.0 |  |
Ganong (1901).A monograph of the evolution of the boundaries of the province of New Brunswick.
Province ofNew Brunswick  | ||
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Subdivisions ofNew Brunswick | |
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