Heron Bay () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. It was formed through the

2023 New Brunswick local governance reform Local governance reform in the Canadian province of New Brunswick was implemented on January 1, 2023. This resulted in a significant reorganization of the local government entities in the province, including a reduction in the number of entiti ...

History

Heron Bay was incorporated on January 1, 2023, via the amalgamation of the former town of Dalhousie and the former village of Charlo as well as the concurrent annexation of adjacent unincorporated areas. The name of the municipality came from a submission by Arron Pelletier. "Heron" refers both to Heron Island, which is within the municipality, and

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

s, which frequent the area, while "Bay" refers to

Chaleur Bay frame, Satellite image of Chaleur Bay (NASA). Chaleur Bay is the large bay in the centre of the image; the Gulf_of_St._Lawrence.html" ;"title="Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and the Gulf of St. Lawrence">Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and t ...

, which is adjacent to the municipality.

Geography

Heron Bay is the most northern point in New Brunswick, and thus is in the

Maritime provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

. It is situated in the

Restigouche River The Restigouche River (, ) is a river that flows across the northwestern part of the province of New Brunswick and the southeastern part of Quebec. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from its source in the Appalachian Mountains of nort ...

valley at the tongue of the river where it discharges into Chaleur Bay. The valley lies in a hilly region, part of the Appalachian mountain range, although the Heron Bay town site is situated on a hill side several decameters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

with some development to its south on a low ridge of approximately 260 metres elevation. The town is surrounded by salt and fresh water bodies, which are home to many species of wildlife, unique birds, and fish. The area is rich in natural resources. Heron Bay faces

Miguasha, Quebec Miguasha Provincial Park (French: ''Parc national de Miguasha'') is a protected area near Carleton-sur-Mer on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec in Canada. Created in 1985 by the Government of Quebec, Miguasha was designated a World Heritage Site in ...

on the

Gaspé Peninsula The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia (, ; ), is a peninsula along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on it ...

to the north. The city of Campbellton lies upriver to the west and the city of Bathurst is approximately southeast along the shore of Chaleur Bay. There are no major centres south of Heron Bay as this is the undeveloped and heavily forested geographic centre of the province.

Economy

Until 31 January 2008, the economy was dominated by the forestry industry, namely a large

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...

mill spanning the waterfront along the Restigouche River. This mill was built to produce

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has ...

by the New Brunswick International Paper Co. in 1928 (a subsidiary of

International Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 39,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

). Dalhousie was prosperous for many decades due to the mill and the employment opportunities it created. The mill underwent ownership changes in 1980, when Oji Paper Co. Ltd. and

Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...

& Co. of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

purchased 33 per cent of the mill. They grouped it under the name Canadian International Paper. In 1991, it was purchased by

Canadian Pacific Limited Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), a transportation and mining giant in Canada. In October 2001, CPR completed the corporate spin-offs of each of the remaining business ...

, who grouped it under their

Canadian Pacific Forest Products Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), a transportation and mining giant in Canada. In October 2001, CPR completed the corporate spin-offs of each of the remaining business ...

subsidiary. The mill changed hands again in 1994, when CPFP changed to become Avenor Inc. In 1998

Bowater Bowater Inc. was a paper and pulp business headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. It merged with Abitibi-Consolidated in 2007, and the combined company went on to become Resolute Forest Products. History The North American assets of Bow ...

purchased the Dalhousie newsprint mill, and it was renamed "Bowater Maritimes Inc.". The 2007 merger of Bowater and Abitibi Consolidated resulted in the decision by the newly merged company to announce the closure of the Dalhousie newsprint mill on 29 November 2007 due to apparent market conditions. The mill, which had produced 640 tonnes of newsprint per day for shipment by rail, truck and ship to domestic and international markets, was officially closed on 31 January 2008. Consequently, the economy of the town of Dalhousie is facing uncertainty during the post-industrial adjustment. Due to the closure of this mill, hundreds were left without work in the local economy and some were forced to move. The mill has since been completely demolished. Following the closure of the pulp and paper mill in 2008, Pioneer Chemicals closed a processing plant on the western edge of the town. As a result of the closures of these industries, the

New Brunswick East Coast Railway The New Brunswick East Coast Railway was a railway that operated in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It included of track of which were mainline between Campbellton and Pacific Junction near Moncton. Important spurs connected Dalh ...

and its subsequent owner

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

announced that it was declaring the railway spur into the town surplus. However, a deal was struck between CN and the

Port of Dalhousie A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchest ...

for this section of line to remain open under a leasing agreement in November 2011. The only industry that remained was the generating station, but it was decommissioned in 2012 and demolished in 2015 after one more failed attempt. While there are several smaller employers, the largest employer in the town currently is the Dalhousie Nursing Home.

Transportation

The town benefits from its geography by having a deep sea port, which is ice-free year round. The administration of the port was privatised in 2006, as the result of the federal government's divestiture programme. The port is located on the south shore of the Bay of Chaleur at the mouth of the

, and includes of land, of "waterlot," and two cargo facilities—East Bay Marine Terminal, whose chief cargo is paper, and the West Wharf, which imports petroleum and coal and exports ore concentrates. Berth depths range from . The port is located adjacent to the now-demolished pulp and paper mill. The east wharf can handle 340m vessels with maximum draught at low tide of 9.1m, and has indoor storage facilities of 1ha, while the west wharf handles vessels of up to 355m with draught 10.3m. It is also served by the

and is located on the

Highway 11 Route 11, or Highway 11 can refer to routes in the following countries: International * AH11, Asian Highway 11 * European route E11 * European route E011 Argentina * Provincial Route 11 (Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires Provincial Route 11 Austr ...

arterial highway.

Via Rail Canada Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

provides passenger train service three days per week with stops at Charlo immediately east of the town and in Campbellton to the west. The

Charlo Airport Charlo Airport is located south-southeast of Charlo, New Brunswick, Canada. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle ...

is located several kilometres east of the town for private and charter service with scheduled air service available at the Bathurst Airport.

Education

Heron Bay has two elementary schools (

Académie Notre-Dame An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and L.E. Reinsborough),and two high schools (

Dalhousie Regional High School Dalhousie Regional High School is located in Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Dalhousie Regional High School is in the Anglophone North School District. Notable alumni * Guy Arseneault – Member of the House of Commons of Canada and member of the Leg ...

and

École Aux quatre vents École Aux quatre vents is a Francophone high school in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Canada. It serves around 200 students from grade nine Ninth grade (also 9th grade or grade 9) is the ninth or tenth Educational stage, year of Formal education, ...

Climate

Heron Bay has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

. In spite of its marine position, this climate regime is typical of New Brunswick and is manifested by vast differences in temperature between the warm summers and the cold snowy winters.

Infrastructure

The

, the only airport in the region, offered scheduled air service between 1963 and 2001. In October 2012,

Provincial Airlines Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

began trial flights at the

. In January 2013, after deeming that there was sufficient demand, they made the trial flights permanent. They currently provide direct flights between Heron Bay, New Brunswick and Wabush, Newfoundland and

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

.https://www.provincialairlines.ca/fly-pal/where-we-fly/

Notable people

Guy Arseneault Guy H. Arseneault (born 11 May 1952 in Dalhousie, New Brunswick) is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick since 2018. He was previously a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 ...

, teacher and politician * Joseph Cunard Barberie, politician *

Joel Bernard Joel Bernard (born December 8, 1963) is a Canadian conservative politician. Political career Provincial He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, representing Nepisiguit, in the general election of 1999 and became deputy sp ...

, politician *

Gordie Dwyer Gordon Rick Dwyer (born January 25, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. He currently serv ...

, hockey player and coach * Kate Simpson Hayes, writer *

Charles H. LaBillois Charles H. LaBillois (December 18, 1856 – November 22, 1928) was a Canadian merchant and political figure active in New Brunswick. He represented Restigouche County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1883 to 1899 as a Conservati ...

, politician and merchant * Allan Maher, businessman and politician * Marie-Jo Pelletier, alternate captain for the

Buffalo Beauts The Buffalo Beauts were a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). They played in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, at the Northtown Center. The Beauts were established in 2015 as one of the four founding f ...

* Linda Silas, nurse and trade unionist

References

{{Subdivisions of New Brunswick, towns=yes, villages=yes, rural communities=yes, regional municipalities=yes, counties=yes, state=expanded 2023 establishments in New Brunswick 2023 New Brunswick local governance reform Populated places established in 2023 Towns in New Brunswick