Saint John () is a

seaport 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, Manc ...

city located on the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

in the province of

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 ...

, Canada. It is Canada's oldest incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. The

Port of Saint John The Port of Saint John is a port complex that occupies of land along of waterfront of the Saint John Harbour at the mouth of the Saint John River in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.Port of Saint JohnPort Facilities The Port of S ...

is Canada's third-largest by tonnage with a cargo base that includes dry and liquid bulk, break bulk, containers, and cruise. The city has a strong industrial base, including oil refining and manufacturing, matched with finance and tourism sectors and research institutions such as the

New Brunswick Museum The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back muc ...

and the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

. Saint John was the most populous in New Brunswick until the 2016 census, when it was overtaken by

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

. It is currently the second-largest city in the province, with a population of 69,895 over an area of . French explorer

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

landed at Saint John Harbour on June 24, 1604, the feast of St.

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, and named the Saint John River in his honour; the indigenous

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

and

Wolastoqiyik The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their terri ...

peoples called the river "Wolastoq". The Saint John area was an important area for trade and defence for

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

during the French colonial era, and Fort La Tour, in the city's harbour, was a pivotal battleground during the

Acadian Civil War The Acadian Civil War (1635–1654) was fought between competing governors of the French province of Acadia. Governor Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour (a Protestant) had been granted one area of territory by King Louis XIV, and Charles de ...

. After more than a century of ownership disputes between the French and English over the land surrounding Saint John, the British government deported the Acadians in 1755 following the destruction of

Fort Menagoueche Fort Menagoueche () (1751, destroyed 1755, present historic site) was a French fort at the mouth of the St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada. French Officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot and Ignace-Philippe Aubert de Gaspé ...

, which was reconstructed as Fort Frederick. Following the pillaging and burning of Fort Frederick by American

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

Fort Howe Fort Howe (1777 — present historic site) was a British fort built in Saint John, New Brunswick during the American Revolution. It was erected shortly after the American siege in 1777 to protect the city from further American raids. The 18th ...

was constructed across the river above the harbour in 1779. In 1785, the City of Saint John was established by uniting the two communities of Parr-town and Carleton on either side of the harbour after the arrival of thousands of refugees from the newly founded United States who wished to remain British after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. During the next century, immigration via Partridge Island, especially during the Great Famine, would fundamentally change the city's demographics and culture.

History

The Saint John area had been inhabited by peoples of the

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner"; also: Wabanakia, "Dawnland") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations ...

for thousands of years. The northwestern coastal region of the

was home to the

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy (Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language, Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'', Plural: ''Peskotomuhkatiyik'') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American/First Nations in Canada, First Nations people who live in northea ...

Nation, while the Saint John River valley north of the bay became the domain of the

Nation. The

also frequented the Saint John area due to the harbour and coast being an important hunting ground for seals. The area around the harbour, where the city is, has been traditionally called Menahkwesk by the Wolastoqiyik people, who continue to reside in and around the city. In precolonial times, the Wolastoqiyik lived in mostly self-sustaining villages living largely off bass, sturgeon, salmon, corn, wild roots and berries. In 1604,

landed at Saint John Harbour, though he did not settle the area. Saint John played a crucial role in trade and defense for

during the French colonial era, with Fort La Tour in the city's harbour becoming a pivotal battleground during the

. At the end of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, the British took the region from the French. The population of Saint John grew with immigration from the former

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

and Europe. In 1785, Saint John became the first incorporated city in what is now Canada. Immigration led to the building of North America's first quarantine station, Partridge Island. The city became a shipyard of global stature, producing vessels such as the 1851 ship , which became the fastest in the world, and witnessing the development of the automated

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. ...

by Robert Foulis. As the city grew in strategic importance to English power and capital, unrest grew among many of its working class. Black Saint Johners faced restrictions on trade, fishing and voting, compelling the majority of the city's Black community to settle in Portland (the city's north end), which later became amalgamated with Saint John. In 1849, Canada's first labour union, the Laborer's Benevolent Association (now ILA local 273) was formed by

longshoremen A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockworke ...

. Between 1840 and 1860,

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

violence became rampant in Saint John as tensions escalated in response to the poor living conditions of poor

Irish Catholics Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

, resulting in some of the worst urban riots in Canadian history. Saint John experienced a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreak in 1854 that claimed over 1,500 lives, as well as the Great Fire of Saint John in 1877 that destroyed 40% of the city and left 13,000 people homeless. Although the fire caused damages exceeding $10 million (equivalent to approximately $256 million today), Saint John quickly embarked on rebuilding. Nevertheless, the aftermath prompted many residents to leave the city.

Geography and climate

Physical geography

Situated in the south-central portion of the province, along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River, the city is split by the south-flowing river and the east side is bordered on the north by the Kennebecasis River where it meets the Saint John River at Grand Bay. The city hosts many beaches and is just east of New River Beach Provincial Park. Saint John Harbour, where the two rivers meet the Bay of Fundy, is a deep water port and ice-free all year long. Partridge Island is in the harbour. The city land area is , and the metropolitan area covers . Stonehammer

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Geopark, the first Geopark in North America, is centred around Saint John. The Geopark has been recognized by UNESCO as having exceptional geological significance. The park contains rock formations that date back to the Precambrian era and some of the rocks may be a billion years old. The Saint John River itself flows into the

through a narrow gorge several hundred metres wide at the centre of the city. It contains a unique phenomenon called the Reversing Falls where the diurnal tides of the bay reverse the water flow of the river for several kilometres. A series of underwater ledges at the narrowest point of this gorge also create a series of rapids. The topography surrounding Saint John is hilly; a result of the influence of two coastal mountain ranges which run along the Bay of Fundy – the ''St. Croix Highlands'' and the ''Caledonia Highlands''. The soil throughout the region is extremely rocky with frequent granite outcrops. The coastal plain hosts numerous freshwater lakes in the eastern, western and northern parts of the city. In Saint John the height difference from low to high

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

is approximately 8 metres (28 ft) due to the funnelling effect of the Bay of Fundy as it narrows. The Reversing Falls in Saint John, actually an area of strong rapids, provides one example of the power of these tides; at every high tide, ocean water is pushed through a narrow gorge in the middle of the city and forces the Saint John River to reverse its flow for several hours.

Architecture

Germain Street Brunswick Square and Office Tower

Saint John, especially in its Uptown region, features a multitude of architectural styles spanning from the 19th and early 20th centuries, with residences and buildings containing

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

, and Second Empire architectural styles. Over time, the city would see the use of Georgian,

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

, Second Empire and Queen Anne style architecture. As Saint John rebuilt from the Great Fire in 1877, buildings would start to be constructed using brick and stone rather than wood. During the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the most popular styles in the city were Queen Anne and Romanesque architecture. In 1911, a proposed city hall was to share

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

and Second Empire architectural styles. Over time, the city would no longer adopt some of these styles. Buildings in Saint John also feature stone carvings and sculptures. In 1982, Saint John introduced the

Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area The Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area is a historic district in Saint John, New Brunswick's uptown. The City of Saint John designated the area as the city's first heritage conservation area in 1982; it has since expanded in area. Surroundin ...

, which serves to preserve historic districts and buildings in the city. The Saint John Preservation Areas By-Law regulates exterior work done to these properties in a way that preserves the historic architecture in buildings built prior to 1915. List of buildings in Saint John: * Courtney Bay Smokestacks (each ) *

Brunswick Square Brunswick Square is a public garden and ancillary streets along two of its sides in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north; the Brunswick Centre to the we ...

() 19-storey office tower with which was built in 1976. It is the largest office building in New Brunswick in terms of square footage and second in Atlantic Canada behind the Maritime Centre in Halifax. * Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Gothic style Catholic cathedral, construction began in 1853, its spire rises to ) *

Saint John City Hall Saint John City Hall is the home of the municipal government in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, the meeting place of the Saint John City Council, and the office of the Mayor of Saint John. It was built in 1971 and is located at 15 Market ...

() 16-storey office building () * Brunswick House () 14-storey office building () * Irving Building () 14-storey office building * Harbourside Senior Citizens Housing Complex () 12-storey apartment building * Harbour Building () 10-storey office building * Mercantile Centre () 7-storey office building () * Chateau Saint John 8-storey hotel (112 rooms) * City Market (built in 1876, oldest city market in North America, with an original ship's hull roof design) * Loyalist House (built in 1817) * Irving Oil Home Office (2019) 11-storey office building

Parks and nature

Saint John is home to the historic King's Square, an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

located in the city's Uptown region. Multiple historic buildings are located by the park, including the

Saint John City Market The Saint John City Market in Saint John, New Brunswick, is the oldest continuously operated Farmers' market, farmer's market in Canada, with a charter dating from 1785. The market is located at 47 Charlotte Street. History Prior to the establish ...

, the

Imperial Theatre The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and ...

, as well as the former Admiral Beatty Hotel. King's Square's counterpart, Queen Square, is another urban park located a few blocks south from it. Queen Square features an annual outdoor

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

which runs through the summer months. Located in west Saint John is the Irving Nature Park, located in the city's west side and measuring . Saint John is also home to Rockwood Park, a large municipal park located to the east of the

Millidgeville Millidgeville is a Canadian suburban neighbourhood in the city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Millidgeville is situated on the northern edge of the city, on Brothers Cove off the Kennebecasis River at the point where that westerly flowing river ...

neighbourhood. Designed in the 19th century by

landscape designer Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

, one of the designers for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, It features 2,200 acres of park area, ten lakes, and 55 trails and footpaths.

Neighbourhoods

According to Saint John mapping data, the city has 33 neighborhoods categorized into four groups: North, East, South and West. * North: North End (mostly the former city of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

), Pokiok, Douglas Avenue, Churchill Boulevard, Cedar Point,

, Mount Pleasant, Kennebecasis Bay, and Brookville. Cedar Point is the site of the city's only completely French school and community centre, Centre Scolaire Communautaire Samuel-de-Champlain. The area includes one of Canada's largest urban parks, Rockwood Park. * East: East Saint John, McAllister, Champlain Heights, Eastwood, Red Head, Forest Hills, Lakewood, Glen Falls, Latimer Lake, and Loch Lomond. * South: Typically referred to as the South Central Peninsula. Includes Uptown, Germain Street, Broad Street (although the mapping data refers to the area as Broad Street, it is commonly known as South End, which formerly encompassed Lower Cove), Orange Street, and

Waterloo Village Waterloo Village is a restored 19th-century canal town in Byram Township, Sussex County (west of Stanhope) in northwestern New Jersey, United States. The community was approximately the half-way point in the roughly trip along the Morris C ...

. On the east side of Saint John Harbour and the area immediately opposite on the west side are the sites of the original city. Now includes the central business district and the

, which together are referred to as Uptown. * West:

Saint John West Saint John West is a neighbourhood in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is located west of the Saint John Harbour, and includes the former city of Lancaster. History Notable people See also *Saint John, New Brunswick Saint J ...

(includes Carleton), Lower West Side, Sand Cove, Fairville, Island View, Lorneville, Ocean Westway, Milford-Randolph, and South Bay. Collectively referred to as West Side, but

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

was a notable former municipality.

Climate

The climate of Saint John is

humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

Dfb DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

''). The Bay of Fundy never fully freezes, thus moderating the winter temperatures compared with inland locations. Even so, with the prevailing wind blowing from the west (from land to sea), the average January temperature is about . Summers are usually warm to hot, and daytime temperatures often exceed . The highest temperature recorded in a given year is usually . The confluence of cold Bay of Fundy air and inland warmer temperatures often creates onshore winds that bring periods of fog and cooler temperatures during the summer months. Precipitation in Saint John totals about annually and is well distributed throughout the year, although the late autumn and early winter are typically the wettest time of year. Snowfalls can often be heavy, but rain is as common as snow in winter, and it is not unusual for the ground to be snow-free even in mid-winter. The highest temperature ever recorded in Saint John was on June 20, 2024. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on February 11, 1948.

Demographics

At the 2021 census conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Saint John had a population of people that were living in of total private dwellings. The population density was , and is most densely populated in Uptown Saint John. The median total household income was $62,800. Of the city's population aged between 25 and 64, held a bachelor's degree or higher, held a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree, and had a high school diploma or equivalent. The median age was 44 years. At the

census metropolitan area 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 ...

(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Saint John CMA 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.

Ethnicity

Historically, as one of Canada's main ports, Saint John has been a centre for immigration from all over the world. The city was incorporated in the late 1700s after more than 3,300 Black Loyalist refugees came to Saint John along with more than 10,000 White refugees after the American Revolution. In the years between 1815 and 1867, when immigration of that era passed its peak, more than 150,000 immigrants from Ireland came to Saint John dramatically changing the city. Those who came in the earlier period were largely tradesmen, and many stayed in Saint John, becoming the backbone of its builders. But when the Great Famine of Ireland raged between 1845 and 1849, huge waves of famine refugees flooded the city's shores. It is estimated that between 1845 and 1847, some 30,000 arrived, more people than were living in the city at the time. In 1847, dubbed " Black 47", one of the worst years of the famine, some 16,000 immigrants, most of them from Ireland, arrived at Partridge Island, the immigration and quarantine station at the mouth of Saint John Harbour. As of the 2021 census, approximately 86.4% of the residents were white, while 10.9% were visible minorities and 2.8% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

(2.7%),

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

(2.4%),

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

(1.5%),

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

(1.4%), and Filipino (0.9%).

Language

87.2% of residents spoke English as a mother tongue. Other common first languages were

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

(3.7%),

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

(1.5%)

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

s (1.0%) and

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

(0.5%).

Religion

58.5% of residents were Christian, down from 79.6% in 2011. 29.7% were Catholic, 20.6% were Protestant, 5.1% were Christian n.o.s, and 3.0% were other Christian denominations or related traditions. 36.0% of the population were non-religious or secular, up from 18.4% in 2011. Other religions accounted for 5.5% of the population, up from 2.0% in 2011. The largest non-Christian religions were Islam (3.1%) and Hinduism (1.0%).

Economy

Saint John's location along the

has been of major importance to the city's prosperity. The bay's dramatic

tidal range Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun, by Earth's rotation and by centrifugal force caused by Earth's prog ...

prevents the

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

from icing over, allowing the city to be accessible all year round. Shipbuilding, shipping and lumber trade rose as prominent industries. By 1840, one-third of New Brunswick's timber, as well as two-thirds of its sawn lumber and manufactured wood products, were exported through Saint John. At one point, Saint John was

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

's biggest shipbuilding city, constructing many well-known ships, including the ''Marco Polo''. However, these industries suffered a decline in trade due to technological advancements, which was only made worse with the Great Fire of Saint John in 1877. Shipbuilding in Saint John permanently ceased in 2003 following the closure of the Saint John shipyard, which had been idle for the past three years. Today, Saint John benefits from industries such as tourism, reporting a tourism expenditure of $282 million in 2018.

, the city's port, allows for a capacity of three cruise ships, and has been a cruise ship destination since 1989, first welcoming the MS ''Cunard Princess''. Saint John receives around 80 cruise ships annually. As of the 2023 cruise schedule, Saint John is scheduled to receive 190,680 passengers' worth of cruise ships. The port also carries over 20 million metric tonnes of cargo annually.

Arts and culture

The arts and culture sector plays a large role in Saint John's economy. The Imperial Theatre is home to the highly acclaimed Saint John Theatre Company, and the Symphony New Brunswick and hosts a large collection of plays, concerts and other stage productions year-round. Harbour Station entertainment complex is home to the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. Art galleries in Saint John cover the uptown, more than any other Atlantic Canadian city. Artists like Miller Brittain and Fred Ross have made Uptown Saint John their home, and now the torch has been passed to artists like Gerard Collins, Cliff Turner and Peter Salmon and their respective galleries. Uptown art galleries also include the Paris Crew, Trinity Galleries, Citadel Gallery, Handworks Gallery and the Saint John Arts Centre (SJAC). The SJAC in the Carnegie Building hosts art exhibits, workshops, local songwriters' circles and other shows too small to be featured at the grand Imperial Theatre.

Heavy industry

Saint John maintains industrial infrastructure in the city's East side such as Canada's largest

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

as well as the country's largest dry dock. Capitalist K.C. Irving and his family built his unfettered industrial conglomerate in the city by buying up mills, shipyards, media outlets, and other industrial infrastructure during the 20th century, and still continue to this day. Today Irving dominates the city and province with stakes in oil, forestry, shipbuilding, media and transportation. Irving companies remain dominant employers in the region with North America's first deepwater oil terminal, a pulp mill, a paper mill and a tissue paper plant. Other important economic activity in the city is generated by the

. Saint John has a long history of brewers, such as Simeon Jones, The Olands, and James Ready. The city is now home to Moosehead Breweries, James Ready Brewing Co., Big Tide Brewing Co., Picaroon's and other craft brewers. The

Moosehead Brewery Moosehead Breweries Limited is Canada's oldest independent brewery, located in Saint John, New Brunswick. The brewery was founded in 1867 and is still privately owned and operated by the Oland family. The company is now in the sixth generation ...

(established in 1867, is Canada's only nationally distributed independent brewery . Nicholson, James Ready Brewing Co., the

New Brunswick Power Corporation New Brunswick Power Corporation (), operating as NB Power (), is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Crown corporation by the government of New Brunswick and is responsibl ...

which operates three electrical generating stations in the region including the

Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located 2 km northeast of Point Lepreau, New Brunswick, Canada. The facility was constructed between 1975 and 1983 by NB Power, the provincially owned public utility. T ...

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for Telecommunications in Canada, telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atl ...

which operates out of the former New Brunswick Telephone headquarters, the Horizon Health Network, which operates 5 hospitals in the Saint John area, and numerous

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

companies. There are also a number of

call centres A call centre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American English, American spelling; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences) is a managed capability th ...

which were established in the 1990s under provincial government incentives.

Maritime industries

Saint John is a major Canadian port, and the only city on the Bay of Fundy. Until the first decade of the 21st century, Canada's largest shipyard (Irving Shipbuilding) had been an important employer in the city. During the 1980s-early 1990s the shipyard was responsible for building 9 of the 12 multi-purpose patrol

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s for the

Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. However, the Irving family closed the shipyard in 2003 and centralized in Halifax leaving the Saint John dry dock sitting idle. Ecological research on surrounding marine life of the Bay of Fundy and the Saint John and Kennebecasis Rivers is centred in the city. The University of New Brunswick's Marine Biology department in Saint John as well as local NGO's and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans heads the majority of research and monitoring work on marine life and environments. Traditional fisheries (lobster, scallops etc.) still make up the livelihood for many Saint Johners today. Aquaculture, primarily Atlantic Salmon farming, has grown to be a major employer in the region as the decline of other traditional wild fisheries has unfolded in recent decades. Cooke Aquaculture, one of the largest companies in the industry is headquartered in Saint John. Prior to the opening of the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

in 1959, the Port of Saint John functioned as the winter port for

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

when shipping was unable to traverse the

sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less density, dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world' ...

in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

. The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

opened a line to Saint John from Montreal in 1889 across the state of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and transferred the majority of its trans-Atlantic passenger and cargo shipping to the port during the winter months. The port fell into decline following the seaway opening and the start of year-round

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

services in the 1960s. In 1994 CPR left Saint John when it sold the line to shortline operator

New Brunswick Southern Railway The New Brunswick Southern Railway Company Limited is a Canadian short line railway owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company Limited, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglo ...

. The

Canadian National Railway 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 a ...

still services Saint John with a secondary mainline from

. Despite these setbacks, Port Saint John is the largest port by volume in Eastern Canada, at about 28 million metric tonnes of cargo per year, including

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

and

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

Exports

Saint John is a major exporter to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, with 96.3% of the city's exports being sent past the border according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. This was particularly highlighted in light of U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's tariff threats against the country due to research by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce concluding that Saint John is the most vulnerable Canadian city in the potentiality of a trade war between both countries with a trade exposure index of 131.1%, which is nearly 50% higher than the second-ranked city of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. The study highlighted the Irving Oil Refinery, noting that over 80% of its exports go to the United States. Irving announced a tariff response plan as a result of this, in which all tariff costs on oil exported to the country will be absorbed by U.S. customers.

Culture

The city is the birthplace of several notable artists, actors and musicians, including

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. A major leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, known for his "portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise," Pidgeon earned two Academy ...

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884Mayer maintained that he was born in Minsk on July 4, 1885. According to Scott Eyman, the reasons may have been: * Mayer's father gave different dates for his birthplace at different times, so ...

, and Miller Brittain. What is considered the golden age of the Saint John arts community was during the post-war era from 1940 to 1970 when the city produced renowned artists and writers such as poet Kay Smith, painters

Jack Humphrey Jack Weldon Humphrey (12 January 1901 – 23 March 1967) was a Canadian landscape and figure painter, mainly in watercolour. Art historian J. Russell Harper called him the "most significant eastern Canadian painter of his generation". Biograph ...

, Miller Brittain, Bruno Bobak, Fred Ross, sculptor John Hooper and folk-singer

Stompin' Tom Connors Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, Order of Canada, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country music, country and folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited wi ...

. Poet

Bliss Carman William Bliss Carman (April 15, 1861 – June 8, 1929) was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate during his later years. In Canada, Car ...

once wrote about Saint John, "All the beauty and mystery Of life were there, adventure bold, Youth, and the glamour of the sea, And all its sorrows old."

Dance, music, and theatre

Comhaltas Saint John: Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1951. Its mandate is to promote traditional Irish music and culture, and there are more than 400 branches around the world. The Saint John branch of Comhaltas is the easternmost chapter in Canada. JP Collins Celtic Festival is an Irish festival celebrating Saint John's Irish heritage. The festival is named for a young Irish doctor James Patrick Collins who worked on Partridge Island quarantine station tending to sick Irish immigrants before he died there himself. Arts organization include InterAction School of Performing Arts, New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, Symphony New Brunswick,

TD Station TD Station (), formerly known as Harbour Station, is an arena located in the uptown area of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The arena is the home of the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. It was once the home of ...

, The

, and the Saint John Free Public Library, among others.

Film and television

Saint John, as well as New Brunswick as a whole, entered the film industry in 1924 with the now- lost

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

Blue Water Maritime geography is a collection of terms used by naval military units to loosely define three maritime regions: brown water, green water, and blue water. Definitions The elements of maritime geography are loosely defined and their meanings hav ...

'', produced by the once-successful

Ernest Shipman Ernest G. Shipman (December 16, 1871, in Shipman's Mills (now Almonte, Ontario, Almonte), Ontario, Canada – August 7, 1931, in New York City) was Canada's most successful film producer during the silent film, silent period. Shipman, whose nic ...

. The film featured soon-to-be

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

star

Norma Shearer Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated women. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'Neill, ...

, though it had a short-lived screening and failed to succeed commercially. Saint John made a return to film with the ''

Bravery in the Field ''Bravery in the Field'' is a 1979 Canadian short drama film, produced by the National Film Board of Canada and directed by Giles Walker. The film stars Les Rubie as Tommy, an aging World War II veteran, and Matt Craven as Lennie, a young street t ...

'' (1979), a short drama film by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

both set and filmed in the city which was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for

Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, ''Best Short Subject, On ...

. Saint John is notably one of the filming locations for '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1986), a

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

drama film that received five nominations at the

59th Academy Awards The 59th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 30, 1987, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During ...

Marlee Matlin Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...

, in her film debut, won

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

, making her not only the youngest Best Actress winner but also the first deaf winner in Oscar history.

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. For his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Cannes Film Festival Award for B ...

, who made a return to the city for filming '' The 4th Floor'' (1999), befriended some Saint John residents during his time there for filming of ''Children of a Lesser God''. Other films shot in Saint John include '' The Secret Life of Algernon'' (1997),

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama '' Blue Hill Avenue'' (2001), ''

Jericho Mansions ''Jericho Mansions'' is a 2003 independent mystery thriller film directed by Alberto Sciamma. It stars Jennifer Tilly, James Caan, Geneviève Bujold, and Maribel Verdú. It was filmed in Saint John, New Brunswick and in Almería, Spain. Cast * ...

'' (2003), ''

Geraldine's Fortune ''Geraldine's Fortune'' is a 2004 Canadian comedy-drama film. It was directed by John N. Smith, written by Tim Burns and based on the play ''Les Belles-sœurs'' by Michel Tremblay. Plot Geraldine Liddle (Curtin) is a small town woman from New B ...

'' (2004),

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'' Stuck'' (2007), romantic drama ''

Still Mine ''Still Mine'' is a 2012 Canadian romantic drama film. The film had a limited release under its original title ''Still'' at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival;Steven Bernstein's depiction of Welsh poet

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

Last Call In a Bar (establishment), bar, a last call (last orders) is an Wiktionary:announcement, announcement made shortly before the bar closes for the night, informing patrons of their last chance to buy alcoholic beverages. There are various means to ...

'' (2017), of which most

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

s were from Saint John. Additionally, filming for Taylor Olson's upcoming film titled ''Unseen'' took place in the city between April and May 2024. In television, Saint John was featured in an episode of ''

Hotel Impossible ''Hotel Impossible'' was a reality television series from Travel Channel in which struggling non-chain hotels received an extensive makeover by veteran hotel operator and hospitality expert Anthony Melchiorri and his team. The show premiered on ...

'', as well as in ARD

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

''Verrückt nach Meer''. Saint John was additionally a filming location for '' Canada Russia '72'' (2006), a

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

about the

Summit Series The Summit Series, Super Series 72, Canada–USSR Series (), or Series of the Century (), was an eight-game ice hockey series between the Soviet Union and Canada, held in September 1972. It was the first competition between the Soviet nation ...

Museums

Saint John features multiple museums such as the Hatheway Labour Exhibit Centre, the New Brunswick Black History Society's Black History Heritage Centre located in the Brunswick Square mall, the Carleton Martello Tower,

, the Loyalist House, the

Saint John Jewish Historical Museum The Saint John Jewish Historical Museum in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, preserves and displays the history of the Jewish community in the city of Saint John. The Museum was opened by founder Marcia Koven in 1986. A Jewish Historical Society h ...

, the Saint John Firefighters Museum, the Saint John Police Museum, as well as the

, Canada's first public museum. Saint John also had the Barbour's General Store, but it was later demolished in July 2023 after having received excessive fire damage in early 2022.

National Historic sites

Saint John is home to several National Historic Sites, including war fortifications such as the Carleton Martello Tower, a

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

masonry tower,

, a former French fort from

Father Le Loutre's War Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the Kingdo ...

, a British fort built during the

, and Fort La Tour. Other sites include the

, the Loyalist House, the

, Partridge Island, the Prince William Streetscape, the Saint John Firefighters' Museum and the

Bank of New Brunswick The Bank of New Brunswick, established in 1820, was the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. The bank operated independently in New Brunswick and later in Prince Edward Island until it merged with the Bank of Nova Scotia (now Scotiabank ...

. File:Saint John, NB, historical Church (Brennans) St..jpg, Saint John is known for its pub and restaurant scene throughout uptown. Statistics Canada found the city has the third most pubs per capita in Canada File:Imperial Theatre, Saint John(IMG 9955).JPG, The

, a National Historic Site still hosting live performances File:Bank of New Brunswick Building 2.JPG, Prince William Street, National Historic Site of Canada. The building in the foreground in the

building, Canada's first bank established by Royal Charter File:New Brunswick -CA- (9676354568).jpg, The Carleton Martello Tower, a

Martello tower Martello towers are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up to high (with two floors) and typica ...

dating from the

Music

Early settlers influenced music in Saint John from the time the area had been a series of forts for the English and French colonists. Working class fishers, labourers and shipbuilders carried Maritime traditions and folk songs with kitchen parties and outdoor gatherings. But musical high culture was captured by the wealthy. New Brunswick's solicitor-general 1784–1808, Ward Chipman Sr was known to have fancy soirées at his home with all the latest songs from London. A notable Loyalist musician, Stephen Humbert, moved in 1783 from New Jersey to Saint John and opened a Sacred Vocal Music School. In 1801 Humbert published Union Harmony, the first Canadian music book in English. The Mechanics' Institute, built in 1840, was the first large-scale platform for comic opera and concerts. In 1950 The Saint John Symphony was founded by Kelsey Jones; by 1983 the organization became Symphony New Brunswick. Some musicians from Saint John include Berkley Chadwick,

Ken Tobias Kenneth Wayne Paul Tobias (July 25, 1945 – October 2, 2024) was a Canadian singer-songwriter. He is noted for penning the 1971 chart-topping hit for The Bells, " Stay Awhile", and for several top-selling recordings of his own. Early career ...

Blank Banshee Patrick Driscoll (born June 28, 1986), known professionally as Blank Banshee, is a Canadian artist, musician and producer from Saint John, New Brunswick. He rose to popularity in 2012 with his album ''Blank Banshee 0'', which combined tradition ...

, Stevedore Steve, Jane Coop, Bruce Holder, Frances James, songwriter Michael F. Kelly, Ned Landry, composer and teacher Edward Betts Manning, organist Paul Murray,

Catherine McKinnon Catherine McKinnon (born May 14, 1944) is a Canadian actress and folk/ pop singer. Early life and education Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, McKinnon began as a child performer, making her debut radio broadcast at age eight and her televisio ...

, Patricia Rideout,

Frances C. Robinson Frances Coster Small Robinson (8 August 1858 - 11 November 1905) was an author, composer, and music educator who was born in Canada and lived most of her life in the United States. She published under the name Frances C. Robinson. Robinson was bo ...

, Philip Thomson, and tenor and choir conductor Gordon Wry. Music festivals have long been a part of the city's cultural scene. New Brunswick's Music Festival was held in Saint John every Spring in the early- to mid-20th century. As the city's music changed with the times, so did its festivals. Other popular festivals include the now defunct Festival By The Sea and Salty Jam catering to various genres of pop music. The Area 506 music festival is held every New Brunswick Day long-weekend at Long Wharf on Saint John Harbour. The festival is set up with shipping containers from the port with vendors from New Brunswick companies to promote local business. A main stage area is also set up for night time shows with local acts as well as major groups. Major bands to have played Area 506 include

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters, Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumentali ...

, Stars, Bahamas, Interpol, and Arkells. Each year the festival also includes a bevy of bands coming out of the Saint John music scene. Quality Block Party music festival hosts independent New Brunswick musicians in smaller venues throughout uptown Saint John. The festival gets its name from the old quality block on Germain Street.

Government and politics

Government and court

Saint John operates under a mayor–council form of municipal government, officially known as the Saint John Common Council. The council consists of the mayor and ten councillors, of which two are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

and eight represent the city's four

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s to four-year terms. Saint John is one of five chartered cities in Canada, giving it unique legislative powers. Federally, it is part of the Saint John—Kennebecasis and

Saint John—St. Croix Saint John—St. Croix (formerly New Brunswick Southwest) is a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its population in 2016 was 65,287. Political geograph ...

ridings represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

MP Wayne Long and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP John Williamson, respectively. Saint John is served by the

Provincial Court of New Brunswick The Provincial Court of New Brunswick () is the lower trial court of the province of New Brunswick. It hears cases relating to criminal law and other statutes. The court system of New Brunswick also has a Mental Health Court located in Saint Joh ...

, the province's lower trial court. Saint John is also home to the provincial court's

mental health court Mental health courts link offenders who would ordinarily be prison-bound to long-term community-based treatment. They rely on mental health assessments, individualized treatment plans, and ongoing judicial monitoring to address both the mental hea ...

. The Chief Judge for the Provincial Court is Marco Cloutier.

Politics

The office of the mayor has been held by Donna Reardon since 2021, elected during the last municipal elections. She is the 79th mayor of Saint John. Previous mayors include

Robert Duncan Wilmot Robert Duncan Wilmot, (16 October 1809 – 13 February 1891) was a Canadian politician and a Father of Confederation. Early life and family Wilmot was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick on 16 October 1809. He was the son of John McNeil a ...

, one of the

Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference, Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference, 1864, Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conf ...

and a

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the representative in New Brunswick of the monarch, who operates distinctly within ...

Legislative Council of New Brunswick The Legislative Council of New Brunswick was the upper house of the government of the British colony and later Canadian province of New Brunswick between 1785 and 1891. Members were appointed by the New Brunswick governor. Council chambers ...

and

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

member John Robertson,

director and Liberal

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

member

Jeremiah Smith Boies De Veber Jeremiah Smith Boies De Veber (November 7, 1829 – June 18, 1908) was a Canadian politician and businessman. He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The son of L.H. De Veber, he was educated in Saint John and entered his father's me ...

, physician and Senate of Canada member John Waterhouse Daniel, and

Minister of National Revenue The minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), as well as the administration of taxation law and collection. The position is ...

David Laurence MacLaren. The Saint John City Council consists of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and ten Councillors, two of which overlook the city and the other eight overlooking one of four wards.

Public safety

Police and law enforcement

Saint John's law enforcement agency is the Saint John Police Force. It was established in 1849, though police forces in the city date back to 1809. The police force had 139 sworn officers as of December 31, 2022. The Saint John Police Force was originally based out of the City Hall building from 1971 until 2012, when a new police headquarters was built at Peel Plaza. In 1977, while still based out of the City Hall building, a fire was started in the ground floor jail, killing 21 inmates. In April 1998, the police force's north end station was bombed, injuring a number of officers. An attempted bombing also took place near the jail in June 1998, but was defused.

Fire department

Saint John is served under the

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s of the Saint John Fire Department, which was established in 1786. There are six active fire houses throughout the city under operation by the fire department. 4 Engines, 2 ladders, 2 tankers, 1 Sqaud / Rescue Company as well as an on duty platoon chief are strategically placed throughout the city. Due to budget cuts over the years, the fire department has seen a dynamic drop in staffing, fire houses and companies being closed. Many days the tanker companies are browned out due to staffing shortages. The fire department also has a small quantity of spare and support apparatus within the city for fire prevention, training division and operations. Saint John Fire Department is an old city that has many fires throughout the year, as well as being hit with the fentanyl epidemic. The hard working individuals of the fire department continue to serve the city when called upon even after the harsh cuts to staffing. The most recent fire house that was closed was Engine Company 8 in the cities North End in 2019. Also came with the elimination of 16 positions and cut the daily staffing by 4 personal.

Military

Besides being the location of several historical forts, such as Fort Howe, Fort Dufferin, Fort Latour, and the Carleton Martello Tower, Saint John is the location of a number of reserve units of the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. * Naval Reserve ** HMCS Brunswicker *

37 Canadian Brigade Group 37 Canadian Brigade Group (French: ) is a reserve component brigade of the Canadian Army, which supervises Militia units in 5th Canadian Division for New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. It was created by merging the New Brunswick Mili ...

3rd Field Artillery Regiment, RCA The 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, RCA () is a Canadian Army Reserve artillery regiment based in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group. The Loyal Company of Artil ...

: Regimental headquarters and 115th Field Battery (The Loyal Company) **

Royal New Brunswick Regiment The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (RNBR) is a reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based in New Brunswick. It was formed in 1954 by amalgamation of The Carleton and York Regiment, The New Brunswick Scottish and The North Shore (New Bru ...

(Carleton & York): B Company ** 37 Signal Regiment: Det Saint John, and 2 Squadron ** 37 Service Battalion: Battalion headquarters and a composite logistics company

Education

Primary and secondary

Saint John is served by two school boards. One is the Anglophone board, known as the

Anglophone South School District The Anglophone South School District (ASD-S) is a public English Canadian, Anglophone school district in the Canadian province of New Brunswick that serves the southern part of the province, covering English-language public schools within the Sai ...

, one of the four Anglophone

K–12 K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an English language expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States and Canada, which is similar to publicly supported sch ...

school districts A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary or secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school district and is used to assign stud ...

in New Brunswick, and headquartered in Saint John. The other school board is the Francophone board, named the

Francophone Sud School District Francophone Sud School District (''French'': District scolaire francophone Sud) is a Francophone Canadian school district in New Brunswick with its central offices in Dieppe. The district operates 37 schools in the south-central part of New Brun ...

, which is based out of

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

and serves Saint John's only Francophone school,

École Samuel-de-Champlain The Centre scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain is the only Francophone school in Saint John, New Brunswick. But there is a K to 5 located in Quispamsis about 30 minutes away named L’École des Pionniers. History It is a K to 12 school. The school i ...

. There are 25

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

K–12 schools in Saint John, with 24 being anglophone and one being francophone. The city is home to

Saint John High School Saint John High School (SJHS) is a high school located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It was founded in 1805 and is the oldest publicly funded school in Canada. History Saint John High School was a filming location for the 2001 crime dra ...

, Canada's oldest publicly funded high school. There is also Harbour View High School, St. Malachy's Memorial High School, and

Simonds High School Simonds High School is a grade 9-12 school located in Saint John, New Brunswick. Simonds High School is in the Anglophone South School District. History Simonds High School first opened in 1950, only four years after it was conceived, with G. For ...

Post-secondary

Saint John is home to a number of post-secondary institutions, including the smaller of the two campuses of the

, the Saint John campus (UNBSJ). Opened in 1969 and located next to the

Saint John Regional Hospital Saint John Regional Hospital is a Canadian hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick. Operated by Horizon Health Network, Saint John Regional Hospital opened in 1982, replacing the Saint John General Hospital and West Saint ...

near

, the campus serves around 2,000 of UNB's total student body. As a result of its proximity to the hospital, the Saint John campus also houses Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick for

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

as well as the Gerald S Merrithew Allied Health Education Centre for the provincial community college. Saint John also contains one of the campuses for the

New Brunswick Community College New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) is a public college located throughout various locations in New Brunswick, Canada, including Moncton, Miramichi, Fredericton (its head office), Saint John, St. Andrews, and Woodstock. New Brunswick Commu ...

as well as a campus for Eastern College. In the fall of 2007, a report commissioned by the provincial government recommended UNBSJ and the NBCC be reformed and consolidated into a new polytechnic post-secondary institute. The proposal immediately came under heavy criticism and led to the organizing of several protests in the uptown area, citing the diminishment of UNB as a nationally accredited university, the reduction in accessibility to receive degrees – and these are only a couple of the reasons why the community was enraged by the recommendation. Support for keeping UNBSJ as it was, and expanding the university under its current structure, fell slightly below 90%. Seeing too much political capital would be lost, and several Saint John MPs were likely not to support the initiative if the policies recommended by the report were legislated, the government abandoned the commission's report and created an intra-provincial post-secondary commission.

Public library system

First opening on May 18, 1883, the Saint John Free Public Library was among Canada's first free libraries. It first operated out of the

with a book inventory of 2,885. It temporarily relocated to the

Saint John Masonic Temple The Saint John Masonic Temple is a historic masonic temple in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. One of Atlantic Canada's oldest lodges, the masonic temple is located on 92 Germain Street in Uptown Saint John. The brick building features an I ...

before moving to a building funded by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

and constructed in 1904, where it operated until moving to its present location in Market Square in 1983. The library currently maintains three branches.

Labour

Canada's first trade union

Saint John is often described as the birthplace of unionism in Canada and is one of the few pre-capitalist colonial settlements in North America. The city has a history of labour achievements and sparked the Canadian labour movement with Canada's first trade union, the Labourers' Benevolent Association (now International Longshoremen's Association Local 273). In 1849 the union was formed when Saint John's longshoremen banded together to lobby for regular pay and a shorter workday. One of their first resolutions was to apply to the city council for permission to erect the bell, which would announce the beginning and end of the labourers' 10-hour workday. As the bell shears were hardly finished when capitalists and merchants in the city objected to the bell and successfully lobbied city hall to keep the bell from being put up. But then, citizens and longshoremen defied the order and erected a larger bell and merchants withdrew their opposition to the "Labourers' Bell". ILA Local 273 remain one of the city's strongest trade unions to this day.

The Saint John Street Railwaymen's strike and riot of 1914

The

1914 Saint John street railway strike The Saint John street railway strike of 1914 (sometimes called the ''Saint John street railwaymen's strike'') was a strike by workers on the street railway system in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, which lasted from 22–24 July 1914, with riot ...

(sometimes called the ''Saint John street railwaymen's strike'') was a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

by workers on the street railway system in the city which lasted from July 22 to 24, 1914, with rioting by Saint John inhabitants occurring on July 23 and 24. The strike was important for shattering the image of Saint John as a conservative town dominated primarily by ethnic and religious (rather than class) divisions, and highlighting tensions between railway industrialists and the local working population.

October 14, 1976: The Saint John General Strike

The Saint John General Strike of 1976 was a result of the Bill C-73 passed by Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and the House of Commons in Ottawa on October 14, 1975. This bill limited wage increases to 8% the first year, 6% the second year, and 4% the third year after its enactment. Most provinces of Canada accepted the bill by spring of 1976, but within eighteen months they began to withdraw from the program. After its introduction in 1975, it was not until 1976 that the Anti-Inflation Board (AIB) began to roll back workers' wages. The employees of Irving Pulp and Paper, members of the Canadian Paper Workers Union, were among the first to experience the roll backs implemented by the AIB. The paper workers were required to give back to the employer 9.8% of their previous wage increase the first year, and 11% the second year. The Atlantic Sugar Refinery workers of the Bakery and Confectionary Workers International Union of America soon felt the burden as well. The majority of workers within Saint John were influenced by the AIB by January 1976. On February 5, 1976, the Saint John District and the Labour Council held a conference to plan an organized opposition to the AIB. Fifty-two people came to the meeting as representatives of twenty-six unions in Saint John. The council was led by the Labour Council president, George Vair. They began by educating those present on wage control legislation, but swiftly transitioned into rallying and demonstrating in opposition throughout the city. Five thousand marched from numerous ends of the town to King Square. All major industries in Saint John were shut down.

The Irving Oil Refinery strike, 1994–1996

On May 12, 1994, at 4:30 pm, members of Local 691 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) union at the Irving Oil Ltd. Refinery went on strike. At this time the refinery's management took over its operations. Irving had argued the refinery might have to shut down and had to bring in a bevy of rollbacks to the workers' pay and benefits and other changes to the collective agreement. Local 691 argued Irving simply wished to lengthen the work week without paying workers overtime rates. The strike lasted 27 months and was based on Irving's demands for flexibility of the workers to ensure the refinery was competitive. The strike is seen as symbolic of a rollback of labour and democratic collective bargaining rights that have been in decline across North America.

Media

Print

Saint John's daily newspaper is the ''

Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, owned by Postmedia Network. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is the only New ...

'', which was previously owned by J. D. Irving under their Saint John-based publishing company

Brunswick News Brunswick News Inc. (BNI) was a Canadian newspaper publishing company based on Bloor Street in Toronto. Once privately owned by James K. Irving and based in Saint John, New Brunswick, it was sold to Postmedia Network in 2022. BNI was incorpora ...

, until its acquisition by

Postmedia Network Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is an American-owned Canadian-based media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in En ...

in 2022. The newspaper was created in 1923, following the merger of ''The Daily Journal'' and ''The Daily Telegraph and The Sun'', which itself was created from the merging of ''The Sun'' and ''Daily Telegraph''. Additionally, the University of New Brunswick Saint John campus (UNBSJ) has a

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

''The Baron''. The city was also home to ''

Huddle In sport, a huddle is the action of a team gathering together, usually in a tight circle, to strategize, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulatio ...

'', a

business news Business journalism is the part of journalism that tracks, records, analyzes, and interprets the business, economic and financial activities and changes that take place in societies. Topics widely cover the entire purview of all commercial act ...

website which published from 2015 to 2023. One of the first

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

magazines, ''

Neith Neith (, a borrowing of the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic form , also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an ancient Egyptian deity, possibly of Ancient Libya, Libyan origin. She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed b ...

'', was published in Saint John in 1903–1904 by Abraham Beverley Walker.

Television

Saint John's

television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

is served by two stations, those being

CHNB-DT CHNB-DT (channel 12) is a television station in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. It serves as the network's outlet for both New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (by way of a repeater in Lot 22 serving ...

(

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

) and

CKLT-DT CKLT-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station has studios on Brunswick Square in Saint John, and its transmitter ...

( CTV). CHNB-DT is operated in

Radio

Saint John is served by both anglophone and francophone radio stations, with all but one being FM broadcast. Music

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

include

CHWV-FM CHWV-FM is a Canadian radio station in Saint John, New Brunswick broadcasting at 97.3 FM. The station broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format branded as ''97.3 The Wave''. The station is owned by Acadia Broadcasting which also owns sister st ...

, (

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

CIOK-FM CIOK-FM (100.5 MHz) is a Canadian radio station in Saint John, New Brunswick, owned by the Maritime Broadcasting System. The station currently offers an adult contemporary format branded on-air as ''K100''. Prior to July 2009, it had an adult con ...

(

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

CJRP-FM CJRP-FM (branded as ''CKO-2'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting a Christian contemporary format at 103.5 FM in Saint John, New Brunswick. CJRP also has a low-power rebroadcast transmitter, CJRP-FM-1 95.1 MHz in Rothesay, servi ...

(

Christian contemporary Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith an ...

CJYC-FM CJYC-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting from Saint John, New Brunswick at 98.9 FM with a classic hits format branded on-air as ''Kool 98''. The station is owned by the Maritime Broadcasting System. History The station began broadcas ...

( classic hits),

CHNI-FM CHNI-FM (88.9 MHz) is a Canadian FM radio station in Saint John, New Brunswick. The station airs a classic/active rock format branded as ''Q88.9''. It is owned by the Stingray Group. History On November 26, 2004, Rogers Media received CRTC a ...

(

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

CHSJ-FM CHSJ-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 94.1 FM in Saint John, New Brunswick. The station plays a country format under the ''Country 94'' branding. CHSJ is owned by Acadia Broadcasting, which also owns sister station CHWV-FM. Hist ...

and

CFBC CFBC (930 AM) is a commercial radio station in Saint John, New Brunswick. The station plays a radio format mixing current and recent Country music hits blended with Classic Country. CFBC is owned and operated by the Maritime Broadcasting Sys ...

(both

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

), and CINB-FM (

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

/ classic hits). Francophone stations include

CHQC-FM CHQC-FM is a French language FM community radio station which broadcasts at 105.7 MHz in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is currently owned by C médias. Approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) i ...

(

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

) as well as two other rebroadcast stations CBAL-FM-4 ( classical/

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...

) and

CBAF-FM-1 CBAF-FM (88.5 MHz) is a French-language public Canadian radio station located in Moncton, New Brunswick. The station has a commercial-free news/ talk format and is the flagship station of the Ici Radio-Canada Première network for Atlantic Canad ...

(

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

). The third rebroadcast station in the city,

CBZ-FM BZ may refer to: Chemistry * Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics * 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate, an odorless military incapacitating agent with NATO code BZ * Benzimidazole, an aromatic compound and parasitic ...

, is anglophone. Saint John also has one anglophone news/talk station

CBD-FM CBD-FM (91.3 MHz) is a non-commercial public radio station in Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and is owned by the Canadian government. The studios are on Main Street in St. ...

as well as one

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

station CFMH-FM for the

Saint John campus (UNBSJ).

Transportation

Air

Air service into Saint John is provided by the

Saint John Airport Saint John Airport () is a Canadian airport in Saint John, New Brunswick. Located about east northeast of Uptown Saint John, in an area formerly known as Clover Valley, the airport serves the city of Saint John, the Greater Saint John metropo ...

, near Loch Lomond east northeast of the central business district or approximately by road northeast of the city centre. Flights are offered by

Sunwing Airlines Sunwing Airlines Inc. was a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with its main bases at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. From 2023 onwards, it was a subsidiary of W ...

(seasonal) and

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

(

Air Canada Express Air Canada Express is a brand name of regional feeder flights for Air Canada that are subcontracted to other airlines. Presently, Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines are the sole operators of Air Canada Express flights. They primarily connect smal ...

and

Air Canada Rouge Air Canada Rouge (''Rouge'' meaning 'red' in French) is a subsidiary of Air Canada focused on operating lower-cost flights for leisure travellers. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights ar ...

). In 2011,

WestJet WestJet Airlines, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1994, it is the second-largest airline in Canada and the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employee ...

decided to withdraw from the Saint John Airport. Quebec-based

Pascan Aviation 9736140 Canada Inc., doing business as Pascan Aviation, is a regional airline based in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. Based at Montreal Metropolitan Airport in the Saint-Hubert borough of Longueuil, Pascan operates scheduled flights within Quebe ...

announced its expansion into Saint John in late 2012, with direct flights from Saint John to Quebec City, Newfoundland, and other destinations beginning in September 2012.

Porter Airlines Porter Airlines (stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase as porter) is a Canadian airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto. It is the third largest airline in Canada, behind Air Canada and WestJet. Owned ...

flies once daily from Saint John, to Ottawa and Toronto Island Airport.

Highways

The main highway in the city is the Saint John Throughway (

Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

). Route 1 extends west to the

border, and northeast towards both

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. A second major highway, Route 7, connects Saint John with

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

. There are two main road crossings over the Saint John River: the Harbour Bridge and the

Reversing Falls Bridge The Reversing Falls Bridge is a two-lane bridge crossing the Saint John River at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It carries New Brunswick Route 100 (Bridge Road) across the river and there is no toll for its use. History The Reversing F ...

, approximately upstream.

Rail

Prior to 1918, rail travel to and from Saint John would be carried out through the

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canada, Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also compl ...

. The

Reversing Falls Railway Bridge The Reversing Falls Railway Bridge is the name given to two different steel truss bridges crossing the Saint John River at the same location in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The original bridge was constructed in 1885 immediately upstre ...

carries rail traffic for the

on the route from Saint John to

. Saint John was serviced by the "Atlantic" Line of

Via Rail 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 ...

passenger service. Passenger rail service in Saint John was discontinued in December 1994, although the

and New Brunswick Southern Railway continue to provide freight service.

Port and ferries

Port Saint John is located where the Saint John River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Thus both the ocean and the river system is navigable from Saint John docks.

Bay Ferries Bay Ferries Limited, or simply, Bay Ferries, is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and is headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited and a sister company to the def ...

operates a ferry service, , across the Bay of Fundy to

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is a Canadian town in southwestern Nova Scotia. It is in the historical Digby County, Nova Scotia, county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western shore of the ...

. The Summerville-Millidgeville Ferry, a seasonal toll-free ferry service operated by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation, connects the

neighbourhood with Summerville, located across the

Kennebecasis River The Kennebecasis River ( ) is a tributary of the Saint John River in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The name Kennebecasis is thought to be derived from the Mi'kmaq "''Kenepekachiachk''", meaning "little long bay place." It runs for approximately ...

on the

Kingston Peninsula The Kingston Peninsula is a peninsula in southern New Brunswick, Canada, located between the Saint John River and the Kennebecasis River in Kings County. The peninsula was the site of the first United Empire Loyalist settlement in New Brunsw ...

. Operating from April until the winter season, the service uses the ''Peninsula Princess'', a ferry which, unlike other toll-free ferries in the region, is self- propelled rather than a

cable ferry A cable ferry (including the types chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

Public transit

Saint John Transit is the largest transit system in New Brunswick in both area coverage and ridership. Bus service is provided by Saint John Transit (Greater Saint John Area) and

Maritime Bus Maritime Bus is a Canadian coach operator based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The company began operations on December 1, 2012, after Acadian Lines discontinued service on November 30. History Maritime Bus began operations in Decembe ...

(Inter-city).

Acadian Lines Acadian Lines was a Canadian coach operator based in Moncton, New Brunswick. History The company was established in Halifax, Nova Scotia by industrialist (Fred C Manning?) Roy Jodrey on 1 August 1938 as Nova Scotia Coach Lines, a division of ...

used to operate regular inter-city bus services between New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Bangor, as well as

Rivière-du-Loup Rivière-du-Loup (; 2021 population 20,118) is a small city (Quebec), city on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The city is the seat for the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the Judicial districts of Quebec ...

(connecting with Orléans Express). Maritime Bus has since replaced Acadian Lines as the regional bus service.

Sports

Saint John has been home to multiple provincial, junior league and professional sports teams, including the

Saint John Sea Dogs The Saint John Sea Dogs are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) based in Saint John, New Brunswick. Founded as an expansion team in 2005, the Sea Dogs play their home games at TD Station and ...

(

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

), the former

Saint John Riptide The Saint John Riptide were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saint John, New Brunswick, that had home games at Harbour Station. They were a member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada) in the Atlantic Division. ...

(

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; ) was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchis ...

), the Saint John Irish (

New Brunswick Rugby Union The New Brunswick Rugby Union (NBRU) is the provincial administrative body for rugby union in New Brunswick, Canada. External links NBRU Site Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side ...

), the Saint John Trojans (

), and the Saint John Alpines (

New Brunswick Senior Baseball League The New Brunswick Senior Baseball League is the highest level of amateur baseball play in New Brunswick, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from ...

). The Port City Power, an upcoming professional basketball team and the first Canadian team that will be in

The Basketball League The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a professional basketball league. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and has since expanded. TBL's regular season runs from Feb ...

, is also based in Saint John. The following sporting events have been held in Saint John: * The

2022 Memorial Cup The 2022 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team round-robin format ice hockey tournament held at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick from June 20–29, 2022. It was the 102 ...

, the national tournament of the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

took place here after two years of absence due to the pandemic, with the Saint John Sea Dogs winning the championship. * The

Saint John Flames The Saint John Flames were a Canadian ice hockey team in the American Hockey League from 1993 to 2003 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Calgary Flames bought and relocated the Utica Devils, to be their AHL affiliate. History The Saint ...

of the AHL played here from 1993 to 2003, winning the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

in 2000–2001 * 1999

World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and Doubles curling, mixed doubles championships, as ...

(

Men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

and

Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

) &

2014 World Women's Curling Championship The 2014 World Curling Championships, World Women's Curling Championship (branded as Ford of Canada, Ford World Women's Curling Championship 2014 for sponsorship reasons) was held from 15 to 23 March at the Harbour Station in Saint John, New Brun ...

* 1998

World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The first World J ...

* 1997

AHL All-Star Game The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

* 1995

Skate Canada International Skate Canada International is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organised and hosted by Skate Canada. The first Skate Canada competition was held in 1973 in Calgary, Alberta. When ...

* 1988

World Blitz Chess Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapi ...

* 1985

Canada Games The Canada Games () is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two separate programs are or ...

Collegiately, Saint John is home to the ACAA

UNB Saint John Seawolves The UNB Saint John Seawolves are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent University of New Brunswick from the Saint John campus in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Seawolves field six varsity teams with three men's teams and ...

, the athletic team representing UNBSJ. The team has six varsity sports: basketball, soccer and volleyball, for both men and women.

Twin/sister cities

* Bangor,

, United States (1987). *

Shantou Shantou, Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 20 ...

, China (1997). *

Donghae Donghae () may refer to: * East Sea, the South Korean name of the Sea of Japan ** Donghae Expressway, the name of the expressway in South Korea ** Donghae Line, a railway line in Busan, South Korea * Donghae City, in South Korea ** ''Donghae''-c ...

, South Korea (2008). *

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

, Slovenia (2009). *

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, United States.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1631 establishments in the French colonial empire Acadian history Cities in New Brunswick Communities in Greater Saint John Conflicts in Nova Scotia Populated coastal places in Canada Populated places established in 1631 New Brunswick populated places on the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy) Port cities and towns on the Canadian Atlantic coast