Best Places to Live in New Brunswick

New Brunswick is the largest of the Atlantic provinces of Canada. New Brunswick is located beneath Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula and next to the State of Maine, USA. It was one of the first provinces confederated into Canada alongside Ontario, Québec, and Nova Scotia in 1867. In the past, the province experienced immigration from all over the world on a smaller scale than other provinces. Presently, the province lays claim to a growing variety of increasingly multicultural populations and communities.

New Brunswick inspires a lot of reasons why immigrants want to move to it. There are a lot of employment opportunities across a different number of sectors. Possessing a vibrant entrepreneurial landscape; more and more people are choosing New Brunswick and the benefits it offers, such as a relaxed, healthy, and affordable lifestyle.

Urban centers and small communities and neighborhoods welcome new immigrants by offering safe, and peaceful environments on which to build their new lives. New Brunswick can offer a great career with a high quality of life. Forgo all the traffic of conventional transit and transport yourself through the province's network of rivers, lakes, and oceans, all of which are a stone's throw away from most living centers.

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Top 10 Best Places to Live in New Brunswick

If New Brunswick is on your mind as a possible immigration destination to Canada, then which place to move to in the province is a question you may have thoroughly considered many times. There is rarely a definitive answer to this question, mostly because individual needs, wants, and criteria are highly determinant of what is considered “the best place to live”. However, through research, statistics, and cross-referencing popular lists of the best places in New Brunswick, we have compiled a list of the best places to live in New Brunswick.

Dieppe

Dieppe was officially made into a city in 2003. It is located on the east bank of the Petitcodiac River along the eastern boundary of Moncton. Moncton international airport is included within its incorporated land area.

Dieppe was first designated to be a town in 1952, after its annexation of Lakeburn in 1948. The villages of Saint-Anselme, Cartersville, Fox Creek, and the area of Dover were all assimilated into the town in 1973,

The area on which the city lies came to be known first as the French Village which was then changed to Léger Corner. Its status as a village was made official in 1920 and renamed Dieppe in 1946.

The city has had an outstanding growth rate in recent decades, eventually becoming a suburban community of the Greater Moncton region. Dieppe is the location of a regional shopping center and an increasingly influential industrial park. Prime industries in the city include paper products manufacturing, construction equipment, and food products processing and packaging.

A flight training school and the French campus of New Brunswick Community College are located in Dieppe. As it is situated in a bilingual province, the city is remarkable for having around three-quarters of the population fluent in French and English.

The city's government worked to construct a downtown focal point along its busiest intersection, Léger Corner. The city co-hosts Moncton Festival International du Cinéma francophone en Acadie. the Chocolate River Conservatory of Music also calls the city home.

Fredericton

Fredericton has been the capital of New Brunswick since 1785. It rests along the St. John River, about 135 km from its mouth. It occupies the area of the French Fort Nashwaak, built in 1692, and the Acadian settlement of St. Anne’s Point, which was built in 1731.

A military compound near the city was reconstructed and designated a federal historic site. An educational center and administrative center, the city is the site of the University of New Brunswick, Canada’s first university, and from 1910, St. Thomas University.

The Anglican Christ Church Cathedral (1845–53) resembles the Gothic St. Mary’s in Snettisham, Norfolk, England. Bird paintings by John James Audubon and a copy of England’s Domesday Book published in 1783 are kept in the Georgian-style Provincial Legislative Building (1880).

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police regional headquarters are located near Fredericton along with an agricultural research station and Camp Gagetown of the Canadian Army. Fredericton has developed into the shopping and distributive center for New Brunswick’s central region. Its major products of manufacture include lumber products, computer software, and mobile homes.

Fredericton literary tradition is notable for the likes of Reverend Jonathan Odell, one of Canada's earliest pre-eminent satirists, the novelist Julia Catherine Hart, poet Sir Charles Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Francis Sherman. The Playhouse is a famous theater that presents musicals and drama year-round.

Moncton

Moncton is a port city located in southeastern New Brunswick. It is 25 miles from the Petitcodiac River’s mouth. Moncton is commonly distinguished among New Brunswick’s cities for its large population.

The city's location was originally the site of a Mi’kmaq First Nation village. After this French Acadians settled it. When Pennsylvania Germans and loyalists arrived, the place has renamed the Bend.

Founded in 1864, the University of New Brunswick was initially known as St. Joseph’s College and it quickly became the cultural center of New Brunswick’s Acadian population. During the 19th century, Moncton was favored for its location at the front of a deepwater inlet, which quickly made it into a shipbuilding center. The rise of steamships during the 1870s made this industry obsolete. Its position as a rail junction, port, highway hub, and air terminus became the source of the city’s economic development.

The city’s highly diversified industries include major manufacturing products such as food processing, woodworking, lobster fisheries, farm implements, and auto parts.

Riverview

Incorporated in 1973 as a town, the city's population is around 19 128. The location of the city is located on the Petitcodiac River, which is right across from Moncton. Riverview is part of the tri-community of Greater Moncton.

Various settlements where Riverview is located have populated it for hundreds of years. The Three villages of Bridgedale, Riverview Heights, and Gunningsville became amalgamated into one in 1973 and from that amalgamation, the city of Riverview was born.

Riverview is a product of Moncton's post-World War II urban sprawl growth, which it was connected to by a bridge since the late 19th century.

The largest municipality in Albert County, Riverview is near an area known for its gypsum and oil-shale resources. Boasting an industrial park, Riverview is predominantly an area for residence, and most of the population is employed in Moncton.

Rothesay

Rothesay was officially made into a town in 1998. Located east of the Kennebecasis River, the town is approximately 22 km northeast of Saint John.

Rothesay is the product of the villages of East Riverside-Kinghurst, Fairvale, and Renforth and the area of Wells, which was unincorporated at the time.

It is situated on the eastern side of the Kennebecasis River, 22 km northeast of Saint John. Loyalists received grants as early as 1790, but permanent settlement did not occur until the 1840s. In the early 1850s, the European and North American Railway opened it up as a residential area for the city of Saint John.

It was renamed in honor of the Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay, in the aftermath of his visit to the province in 1860. The river serves as a waterway for riverboat cruised and other pleasure craft.

The town has remained a high-class residential suburban community for Saint John, and most employers are in the service industries. The annual average income is 50% higher than the available statistical provincial average. The Rothesay Netherwood School, established in 1877, prepares young men to enter the Royal Military College of Canada.

It was previously co-educational in the late 19th century before being made into solely a girl's school. The schools reunited in 1984 and have remained bonded as a private boarding school.

The Canadian Open was first held in the town in 1939. The town hosts the National Mixed and National Seniors curling championships. The inventor of the variable pitch propeller, Wallace R. Turnbull, was a resident of the town when he built an early wind tunnel to test his inventions.

Quispamsis

Quispamsis was officially made into a town in 1998. The town is located 22 km northeast of Saint John along the path of the Kennebecasis River. The Hammond River makes up its most easterly boundary.

Quispamsis was first made into a village in 1966, and with the new boundaries that included Gondola Point and parts of Rothesay, it would eventually become part of an urban agglomeration that achieved the status of a city.

Derived from the Maliseet word for "little lake," the town was assigned its current name by the European and North American Railway in 1857 during the construction of that line through the area. Before that, it was mostly known as Wetmore's, Gondola Point, and Lakefield.

Aa a rural area, the town was primarily a summer community til the mid-1960s. The rise in population of the town has made it into a dormitory community of Saint John. The majority of people who don’t commute to Saint John are employed in the service sector of the town's local industries. The town is the location of Stoneycroft, built around 1800 and now a provincial historic site

Bathurst

Bathurst, a city in Gloucester County, northeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River, on Bathurst Harbour, a southern arm of Nepisiguit Bay. The original French settlement, founded in 1619, was called Nepisiguit and then St. Peters.

After 1755 the British displaced the French, and in the 1820s the community was renamed to honor the 3rd Earl Bathurst, then secretary for war and the colonies. The city’s economy is based mainly on lumbering and fishing.

A pulp mill was built in the early part of the 20th century, and the manufacture of pulp and boxboard continues to be the major industry. Since 1953 the mining of local base-metal ore deposits has been of growing significance.

The Sacred Heart Church became a cathedral in 1942 after the episcopal see was transferred from Chatham. Youghal Beach, a popular summer resort on Nepisiguit Bay at the entrance to Bathurst Harbour, is about 7 miles (11 km) north.

Miramichi

Miramichi is located in Northumberland County in eastern New Brunswick. It's situated near the Miramichi River’s mouth, around 135 km north-northwest of Moncton. Created in 1995 from the towns of Newcastle and Chatham (1800), it is now one of the largest cities in the province.

The city's name comes from the earliest English settlement before Newcastle and Chatham were founded. Settled at first to exploit the salmon fishery, the towns developed with the allied trades and lumber, which soon made it into a major shipbuilders center.

Joseph Cunard, in the 1830s, utilized Chatham shipyards to build large ships carrying lumber across the Atlantic to Europe. Today the city is an industrial and commercial center focused primarily on the forestry industry. It also serves as a major port of entry and manufacturing center for pulp and paper, lumber goods, and ships.

The town is also located near numerous salmon sport fisheries near the branches of the Miramichi River. The great Miramichi fire of 1825 largely destroyed the village of Newcastle and it was reconstructed with houses and public buildings, all of which were designed by the Scottish architect and builder William Murray.

Several churches, the old courthouse, and several homes are among the remaining structures of his architectural genius. Lord Beaverbrook’s- Newcastle's most famous historical resident-boyhood home is a cultural center.

Edmundston

Edmundston was officially made into a city in 1952. It’s situated on the banks of the Saint John River, across from Madawaska, Maine. It also lies 285 km north of Fredericton.

At first, it was called Petit-Sault, "Little Falls," but was renamed in 1848 for lieutenant-governor Sir Edmund Head as an honor bestowed upon him.

The city was first settled in 1790 by Acadians who relocated from St Anne's Point during the Loyalist influx caused by the American Revolutionary Wars. In the 19th century, the community's population was augmented by small numbers of English-speaking immigrants. A long stream of immigration by French-speaking settlers from Québec also increased the city’s population.

Edmundston's boundaries were extended in 1998 to include the three smaller French-speaking communities of Saint-Basile, Verret, and Saint Jacques during the annexation of a portion of Madawaska parish.

Since 1911, Fraser Papers Inc has grown from a sawmill operation to a pulp mill and is the city's primary employer. Centre Universitaire Saint-Louis-Maillet, established in 1946, is an affiliate of Universite de Moncton.

The gateway to Atlantic Canada by land, the city’s many manufacturing businesses are due to its unique location at the intersection of the borders of New Brunswick, Québec, and Maine.

Musée du Madawaska documents the history of the region. Petit Témis is an interprovincial park with a trail network connecting Edmundston with Riviere-du-Loup, Qué. The New Brunswick Botanical Garden’s location is also here.

Saint John

Saint John is the second largest city by population in New Brunswick. It's located on the Bay of Fundy, right at the mouth of the headwaters of the St. John River. The area of the city was paid a visit by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1604. It was made into a fort by Charles La Tour from 1631 to 1636 and the British occupied said fort in 1758 and renamed it Fort Frederick.

This fort then bore the brunt of destruction by American revolutionaries in 1775 and was later replaced by Fort Howe when it was reconstructed. After 1783, the true beginnings of the settlement began when loyalists from the American Revolutionary Wars established Parr Town and Carleton around the area of the harbor.

The two communities were joined together to create Saint John, named after the river, which became Canada’s first incorporated city. Martello Tower was built during the War of 1812 on Lancaster Heights as a harbor for defense. It is now one of Canada's designated national historic sites.

The ice-free harbor fosters major primary industries such as shipping, shipbuilding, and fishing. Saint John absorbed the city of Portland in 1889, the parish of Lancaster, and part of Simonds parish in 1966. This made the city a commercial, manufacturing, and transportation provincial center. It has many shipping facilities and one of the world’s longest dry docks.

Recently, Moncton has risen to challenge St. John's industrial primacy. It has done so through foresting industries such as lumbering, oil refining, pulp paper milling, shipbuilding, and construction.

The New Brunswick Museum showcases relics of colonial times and has a collection of ship models. In 1964, the Saint Johns Campus of the University of New Brunswick opened.

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What is Your New Brunswick Pathway?

Deciding where to live and which immigration visa program to use when immigrating to the country is challenging for any immigrant. Canada, and in this particular case New Brunswick, has many places and provincial nominee programs and streams that make the process of choosing even more difficult. As means of assisting you in making your choice, we have compiled a list of the most commonly used provincial nominee programs, pilots, and streams you can apply through to move to New Brunswick.

New Brunswick Skilled Workers Stream

The New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream was created to attract individual foreign workers with the requisite skills, education, and work experience to contribute to New Brunswick’s economic development and growth. These foreign workers must also be prepared to live and work in New Brunswick permanently.

New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot

The New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot (NBCWO) is a pilot program designed for skilled workers intending to move to the province. This program requires employers in New Brunswick to provide support and services to help foreign workers assimilate into the province. The program is open only to the following companies:

• Cooke Aquaculture
• Groupe Savoie Inc.
• Groupe Westco
• Imperial Manufacturing
• J.D. Irving Ltd
• McCain Foods

These companies must follow the steps outlined below to be part of the NBCWP:

• First, create thorough settlement plans providing housing and transport support to help newcomers settle in Canada, promoting long-term retention
• Ensure human resources have specific plans for hiring skilled foreign workers and on-the-job training for those workers.
• Support and guide workers pursuing secondary education or equivalency.
• Provide up to 200 hours of language proficiency training.

The NB Transport Truck Driver Stream

The NB Transport Truck Driver Stream was created as part of the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) to attract and retain immigrants who have the requisite skills and experience desired by the province to contribute to New Brunswick’s economy. The Transport Truck Driver stream targets truck drivers specifically with job offers from trucking companies in New Brunswick.

The NB Transport Truck Driver stream provides a fast-track option to truck drivers due to its accelerated application times. This provides a faster route to obtaining PR status in the province than other immigration programs. To be eligible as a foreign truck driver, you must:

• Have a valid job offer from a trucking company in New Brunswick
• Have a minimum of two years worth of work experience in the transport trucking industry
• Have a valid driver’s license with for commercial purposes
• Meet the language requirements outlined in either English or French (at least CLB level f4 for both).

Do You Qualify?

The Atlantic Immigration Program

The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) is employer-driven and was designed as an immigration program intended to target foreign workers with the requisite skills and experience to plug and augment the labor shortages and population of the four Canadian Atlantic Provinces. Two thousand immigrants and their families, under this project, can be invited to move to either New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Labrador, or Nova Scotia. To learn more about this program's eligibility requirements, take a look here.

New Brunswick Express Entry Stream

The New Brunswick Express Entry Stream provides the quickest way to immigrate to the province of New Brunswick. If you want to earn permanent residency fairly quickly, we recommend utilizing this program.

New Brunswick Entrepreneurial Stream

The Entrepreneurial stream was created to attract and retain experienced business people who want to obtain Canadian permanent residence status in New Brunswick. To do so, they must demonstrate the intent to own and manage a business in the province. 

New Brunswick Private Career College Graduate Pilot

The New Brunswick Private Career College Graduate Pilot targets international graduates/students who possess the requisite skills, education, and work experience needed in the province in order to contribute to its economic fortunes.

The pilot allows international graduates with one to two-year study programs related to occupations in Education, Social Development, Health, Information Technology (IT), Cybersecurity, Business Administration, Supply Chain, and Logistics to apply to move and/or settle in New Brunswick permanently.

NB Strategic Initiative Stream for French-Speaking Immigrants

The NB Strategic Initiative Stream was created as a part of the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) for French-speaking immigrants who possess the requisite skills and education desired by the province to contribute to the development of its provincial economy. This stream requires no job offer, but candidates must be proficient in communicating using French. If nominated, candidates are eligible to apply for permanent residence.

To be eligible for the NB Strategic Initiative Stream, applicants must:

• Have a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) language score of at least 65 points
• Have French language skills that can be used in the workplace and a Canadian high secondary education or ECA equivalent foreign educational qualification
• Have some connection to NB that you can demonstrate through an exploratory visit, a valid job offer, or a direct invitation
• Have sufficient settlement funds to support both yourself and your family in the New Brunswick

You can perform a self-evaluation of your CRS score by using the CRS calculator on our site which will generate a numerical value for you based on your answers to the questions posed.

Applicants cannot apply if:

• They possess a current and active application registered with PETL
• Already own property/business in another province/territory of Canada
• Have a failed or unresolved refugee claim
• They are not legally living in their current country of residence, among other reasons.

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How to Apply

To apply for these New Brunswick PNP streams, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Check Your Eligibility

Determine if you can apply to a PNP stream that suits your needs. You should consult the application guides provided by the New Brunswick government to do this effectively.

Step 2: Validate Your Credentials

You must have your credentials assessed, improve your English or French linguistic skills and find to maximize your chances of success.

Step 3: Fill Out and Submit Your Application

Research Canada and New Brunswick to gain a more thorough understanding of the nation and province you’ll relocate to before proceeding to fill out and submitting your application.

Step 4: Receive Your Nomination

Once your application is successfully submitted, you’ll receive a provincial nomination certificate or a refusal letter. Should you be fortunate to receive a nomination certificate, consider applying for a work permit while waiting for your application to be completed.

Step 5: Prepare for Your Move

Prepare your finances and develop an affordable budget for the next three to six months in New Brunswick. You should also consider purchasing a vehicle and searching for a job for a while.

Work Permits

A work permit shows that the holder is legally permitted to live and work in Canada and can engage in workplace activities specified on the permit. The permit has information concerning the holder's name, passport information, the start and end date of the permit, the name of the employer, and the type of work the holder can perform.

Work permits come in primarily two types: Open and employer-specific work permits.

Open Work Permit

An open work permit is granted by the Canadian government’s Immigration Office to immigrants who want to work for any employer in the country for a certain amount of time.

Employer-Specific Work Permit

The employer-specific Canadian work permit is granted to foreign nationals who receive a job offer from an employer in Canada. This work permit is connected to the employer and the employment offer provided.

Find Your Pathway

The Benefits of Living in New Brunswick

The province is renowned for its beauty along Canada’s east coast. It also gained notoriety as a wonderful place to live, raise a family, and work. These are some of the many reasons why you should consider moving to New Brunswick.

The Wonderful Natural Beauty

Home to many parks, trails, and outdoor recreational activities, New Brunswick is an excellent place for outdoor enthusiasts.

Affordability

The province's housing and rental prices are some of the most affordable in the country. This makes it an enticing option for immigrants looking to save money or establish a business/es.

Employment Opportunities

With many industries, including forestry, fishing, agriculture, and manufacturing, the province is one of Canada’s most industrious along the east coast. Many job opportunities in essential industries such as healthcare, education, and service sectors also exist.

Multicultural and Diverse Communities

New Brunswick possesses a welcoming and diverse community that puts a lot of emphasis on diversity and inclusivity as a source of strength. With a rich cultural heritage, the province annually plays host to many festivals and events.

A High Standard of Living

The province has high standards of living with access to excellent healthcare, education, and social services. A subsidized and robust education system with many top-ranked universities and colleges provides an educational bonus for those looking to upskill themselves through education.

Take the Steps to Live Your Best Life in New Brunswick Today!

New Brunswick is a great place to settle down and raise a family. Offering stunning views of natural beauty, affordable and high living standards, economic opportunities, and a warm, welcoming community, it’s quite apparent why many immigrants choose New Brunswick as their home.

To move to the province using the PNP New Brunswick, you will require expert assistance. With the help of our Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs), you can receive guidance through the entire visa application process, from the beginning of your immigration evaluation to successfully submitting your application. Get in touch with t an RCIC to guide you throughout the process today!

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FAQs

How do I Find a Job in New Brunswick?

The easiest and most accessible way to find a job in New Brunswick is through an online job portal search. The most common Canadian job portals include IndeedCanada, MonsterCanada, eJobbo, and Glassdoor. Just make sure to place the search for New Brunswick.

What is the Best Place to Live in New Brunswick?

There is no definitive best place to live in New Brunswick since subjective needs will largely determine this and want. However, Moncton, the largest city in the province and its burgeoning industrial capital is generally regarded as the best place to live for socially upwardly mobile people.

Which Place in New Brunswick is the Most Affordable?

Affordability also varies according to subjective needs and wants, but according to This is New Brunswick, the most affordable city in New Brunswick is Moncton.