The Regional Municipality of Tracadie is the first and only

regional municipality A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Municipal government in Canada, Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipality, municipal local government, government level as a county, although the specific structure an ...

in the province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada. It had a population of 16,114 in 2016.

History

Tracadie and Sheila were separate communities whose municipal governments were merged into the Town of Grand Tracadie-Sheila on January 1, 1992. The new entity also encompassed a non-incorporated sector North of the Town which was located in the civil parish of Saumarez. In total, the new Town of Tracadie-Sheila counted some 4,200 inhabitants upon creation. There were several reasons for this amalgamation. The towns of Tracadie and Sheila shared contiguous borders and several common services such as Recreation and Police services, and their amalgamation resulted in savings in administrative costs by eliminating a duplication of administrative services, fire services and public works. In July 2014, the Regional Municipality (RM) of Grand Tracadie–Sheila was formed through a municipal restructuring process of the former Town of Tracadie–Sheila, eighteen local service districts (LSDs) and portions of two other LSDs. The eighteen LSDs that were included in their entirety were Benoit, Brantville, Gauvreau-Petit Tracadie, Haut-Sheila, Leech, the parish of Inkerman, the parish of Saumarez, Pointe-à-Bouleau, Pont LaFrance, Pont Landry, Portage River-Tracadie Beach, Rivière à la Truite,

Saint Irénée and Alderwood Saint-Irenée was a local service district in Gloucester County, New Brunswick. It is now part of the Regional Municipality of Grand Tracadie–Sheila The Regional Municipality of Tracadie is the first and only regional municipality in the pro ...

, Saint-Pons, Sainte-Rose, Saumarez, Upper Portage River (Haut-Rivière-du-Portage), and Val-Comeau. The two LSDs with portions incorporated into the RM were Inkerman Centre and Tabusintac. The amalgamation followed a plebiscite that was held in December 2013. The first election of the new municipality of Grand Tracadie-Sheila was held on May 12, 2014, and the new municipality was officially incorporated on July 1, 2014, with the understanding that the new regional municipal council would consider another town name for the long-term. On June 15, 2015, the municipality of Grand Tracadie-Sheila officially changed its name to Tracadie, following an amendment to a regulation under the provincial Municipalities Act. The change reflects the historic identity of the area and the name of the two main rivers that flow through the municipality.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Tracadie had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Education

Tracadie is home to four French schools: the École La Ruche (a kindergarten to grade 5 primary school), the École La Source (a kindergarten to grade 8 primary school), the École Le Tremplin (grades 6, 7 and 8), and the Polyvalente W.-A. Losier, a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

(grades 9 to 12). The public library is located in the ''Hotel de ville'', where the old hospital once stood.

Notable people

Government

The council of the RM of Tracadie comprises eleven elected officials including a mayor and ten councillors. The councillors represent eight wards. Six of the wards are rural in nature and are represented by one councillor each. The remaining two wards are urban in nature and are represented by two councillors each. The current mayor is Denis Losier, a retired 55-year-old school principal who was a rookie politician when he was elected in 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracadie Communities in Gloucester County, New Brunswick Regional municipalities in New Brunswick