About Our Province
Don’t know much about New Brunswick? Here’s some fast facts about our province.
Prior to European presence in North America, what is now New Brunswick was, and still is, inhabited by the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy, Algonquian First Nations that, with others, formed the Wabanaki Confederacy.
New Brunswick is one of Canada’s four founding provinces, having joined Confederation in 1867 alongside Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
New Brunswick’s white pine forests were a vital source of mainmasts for the warships of Britain’s Royal Navy.
The Saint John River was a crucial highway for British North America, especially after the American Revolution. When the Saint Lawrence River froze for the winter, the only reliable line of communication between Quebec and Halifax was along the frozen Saint John.
New Brunswick was first established as a separate colony in 1784, providing a home for thousands of American Loyalists fleeing the United States.
The provincial motto, “Spem Reduxit,” is a Latin phrase meaning “Hope Restored.” Adopted in 1784, it recalls American refugees finding a new home and a new future after having lost everything. It’s also a great description of what we hope the Gospel will do in New Brunswick.
The first Baptist church in Canada was founded in 1763 in Sackville when a church planting team of 13 people from Swansea, Massachussetts moved north. A cairn at Slack’s Cove commemorates the probable landing place.
The University of New Brunswick, founded as King’s College in 1784, is the oldest English-language university in Canada and one of the oldest universities in North America.
New Brunswick is one of the three Maritime provinces (along with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) and one of four Atlantic provinces (the Maritimes, plus Newfoundland & Labrador).
New Brunswick is Canada’s only officially bilingual province. Roughly 65% of the population speaks English as a first language, 31% speak French as their mother tongue. 1/3 of New Brunswickers are bilingual.
New Brunswick’s population passed 800,000 people in March of 2022. In terms of population, New Brunswick is the third-smallest of Canada’s ten provinces.
New Brunswick’s major industries include forestry, agriculture and food processing, transportation, retail, and manufacturing. The Irving and McCain families dominate many provincial industries.
New Brunswick is home to a small community of Amish, living close to Perth-Andover near a small town named Carlingford.
Fiddleheads, a coiled fern resembling the curled end of a violin, are collected along New Brunswick’s riverbanks in the spring and prepared as side dishes with meals.
The Bay of Fundy, which forms New Brunswick’s southern coast, has the highest tides in the world.
New Brunswick is famous for its covered bridges, and 58 still survive in various places in the province. The longest in the world crosses the Saint John River in Hartland, measuring 1,282 feet long—longer than an aircraft carrier!
The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was invented in Saint John in 1839.
The largest whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere, “Old Sow,” is located off of Deer Island. This unpredictable tidal vortex has sucked in numerous unsuspecting vessels and can measure up to 250 feet across.
The Confederation Bridge connects New Brunswick’s Cape Jourimain to Prince Edward Island. Opened in 1997, the bridge cost $840 million and, at 12.9 kilometres long, is the longest bridge over ice-covered water in the world.
