The Canadian 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 ...
is divided by the ''Territorial Division Act''
into 152
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
, units which had political significance as subdivisions of
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
until the Municipalities Act of 1966. Parishes still exist in law and include any municipality, rural community, or regional municipality within their borders. They provided convenient boundaries for electoral districts and organising delivery of government services for some time after 1966 but were gradually supplanted for such purposes by
local service districts (LSDs), which better represent communities of interest. Local governance reforms scheduled for 1 January 2023 will abolish the local service district as a unit of governance but this will not affect the existence of civil parishes.
Parishes are still used
[As of July 2021, by more than a dozen Acts and more than fifty Regulations.] to describe legal boundaries for health administration judicial matters, agricultural boards, and some other entities; highway, fisheries and wildlife, community planning, and some other departments use parishes for rural locations, while some forms still use parishes as the only alternative to municipalities when entering one's community.
Provincial government guidelines require capitalising the word parish only if it follows the specific part of the name: e.g., Hopewell Parish but the parish of Hopewell.
Other uses of the term parish
Confusion is caused by three other government uses of the term parish.
* The provincial government uses LSDs to deliver services to unincorporated parts of the province. 128 LSDs have a name identical to the parish they are in at least partly in, but only 26 have the same boundaries as the parish they are named after.
* The provincial government divides the province into taxing authorities for the purpose of calculating and collecting property taxes. Municipalities, rural communities, regional municipalities, and LSDs can all have multiple taxing authorities. Taxing authorities follow property lines rather than municipal, parish or LSD boundaries and often share the name of an LSD they partially overlap.
* Statistics Canada uses the term parish for any
Census subdivision
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...
that is not an incorporated
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
,
rural community
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descr ...
,
regional municipality
A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place. Reg ...
or
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty,
that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band."
In ...
. Only 49 CSDs have the same borders as the parish they are named after.
List
142 of New Brunswick's parishes are used as the basis of
census subdivision
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...
s by Statistics Canada. Unless noted, all figures below are for census subdivisions, which do not include areas within municipalities, incorporated rural communities, or
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty,
that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band."
In ...
s.
Former and renamed parishes
See also
*
Demographics of New Brunswick
*
Geography of New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick) is one of Canada's three Maritimes, Maritime provinces. While New Brunswick is one of Canada's Maritime Provinces, it differs from its neighbours both ethnoculturally and physiographically. Both Nova Scot ...
*
List of cities in New Brunswick
*
List of municipal amalgamations in New Brunswick
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
List of municipalities in New Brunswick
New Brunswick is the eighth-most populous province in Canada, with 775,610 residents as of the 2021 census, and the third-smallest province by land area, at . New Brunswick's 104 municipalities cover only of the province's land mass but are ...
*
List of towns in New Brunswick
New Brunswick is the eighth-most populous province in Canada, with 775,610 residents as of the 2021 census, and the third-smallest province by land area, at . New Brunswick's 104 municipalities cover only of the province's land mass but are ...
*
List of villages in New Brunswick
New Brunswick is the eighth-most populous province in Canada, with 775,610 residents as of the 2021 census, and the third-smallest province by land area, at . New Brunswick's 104 municipalities cover only of the province's land mass but ar ...
*
Rural community
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descr ...
Notes
References
{{Reflist
*
Local government in New Brunswick
Parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...