In the past, investors immigrating to Canada predominantly chose tier-one cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. However, in recent years, an increasing number of families have entered Canada through the Provincial Nominee Program and settled in major cities across various provinces, particularly in New Brunswick. Fredericton, Saint John, and Moncton are the primary cities chosen by new immigrants in New Brunswick. While these cities may lack the bustle of tier-one metropolises, they offer beautiful environments and comprehensive daily living facilities, making them rare and highly livable destinations.
New Brunswick's Capital—Fredericton
Fredericton is the political, cultural, and educational center of New Brunswick, Canada, situated along the Saint John River. Surrounded by mountains, it boasts beautiful scenery. With a population of 81,300, it is known as the "City of Stately Elms." The Saint John River flows leisurely through the city center, which also preserves 200-year-old mansions from the Loyalist era. It is an administrative city filled with numerous parks; while it may lack a strong, singular personality, one can fully enjoy a stable, peaceful, and wonderful atmosphere here.
As the capital, Fredericton is also the province's cultural and educational hub, home to the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton campus), St. Thomas University, and the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.
New Brunswick's Largest City—Saint John
Located in the Bay of Fundy region, Saint John is one of Canada's earliest developed cities. It is an important port and industrial city in Eastern Canada, playing a pivotal role in New Brunswick's economy. It serves as a base for light and heavy industry, a financial center, a trade and commercial hub for Atlantic Canada, a location for major information and telecommunications enterprises, and a distribution center for pulp, paper, food, beverages, and industrial and agricultural products.
The Port of Saint John is a deep-water, ice-free port, and the tidal phenomenon at the river mouth, which causes the water to reverse flow twice a day, is a spectacular sight. The port features some of the most advanced terminal facilities in North America, with connections to Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world, making it the third-busiest port in Canada.
New Brunswick's Tourism City—Moncton
Nestled among mountains and water with beautiful scenery, the city of Moncton is located between Montreal and Halifax and is one of the most important tourism cities in the Atlantic provinces. It boasts beautiful beaches and is one of the most livable cities in Canada. Moncton is also a major transportation hub for the three Atlantic provinces. Moncton's economy is diverse; in addition to traditional industries such as transportation, logistics, and retail, education, healthcare, finance, information technology, and insurance are also its pillar industries.
Like Quebec, Moncton is a bilingual city (English and French), and the eastern and northern parts of New Brunswick are the only regions in Canada outside of Quebec where French is the dominant language. The city's economy has developed rapidly over the past two years, and an increasing number of new immigrants under the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program are choosing to reside here.