Here, the world’s highest tides rise and fall the height of a four-storey building, twice a day, every day. That’s just the beginning of the wonder waiting in New Brunswick… a place where rivers stretch from breathtaking to beautiful. Where you will be fascinated by the fragile beauty of coastal dunes… or inspired by the Appalachians, some of the oldest mountains on the planet.

When Samuel de Champlain and other Europeans began to visit New Brunswick in the early 1600s, they were met by Aboriginal peoples who played an important role in their survival during that first severe winter. The early French farmers settled at the head of the Bay of Fundy and up the St. John River Valley as far as present-day Fredericton and called the land Acadia.

Fall-out from the English and French wars in Europe resulted in the expulsion of more than 5,000 Acadians in 1755. Some of them escaped to what was then a remote and uninhabited coastline along the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Chaleur Bay. Today we call it the Acadian Peninsula. Others returned to France or fled to the United States, many settling in Louisiana.

In 1783 it was the English who were refugees. During the American Revolution some citizens from the eastern seaboard wanted to remain loyal to the English crown and fled to Canada. So many landed in Saint John that by 1785 they were able to incorporate Canada's first city.

Scots and Irish, pushed out of their homes by political pressure and potato famines, arrived in the early 1800s, and in the 1870s a few hundred Danes settled in Victoria County where their distinctive community survives to this day. But by the late 19th century, major immigration floods were replaced by a trickle of settlers from all over the world. Today, although Aboriginal, French, English, Scottish and Irish roots run deep, New Brunswick enjoys a vivid, multi-cultural and spiritual heritage.

NATURAL WONDERS
The Bay of Fundy, One of the Marine Wonders of the World, majestic rivers, distinctive dunes and discovery beaches, and the Appalachians, some of the oldest mountains on the planet.

LOCATION
Bordering on Nova Scotia, Quebec and the American state of Maine, New Brunswick is almost rectangular in shape, about 322 kilometres tall and 242 kilometres wide. It is the most westerly of the Maritime Provinces, that border on the Atlantic Ocean. The province borders on the Bay of Fundy, which funnels the tides in an unusual manner, creating the world's most extreme tides, measuring over 14 metres (48 feet). The province is also home to the famous Reversing Falls, that change direction with the tides! The province uses Atlantic Time, as do the other maritime Provinces (except Newfoundland). There are ferry connections between Saint John and southern Nova Scotia.
Note: some people often confuse the names of Saint John (singular) New Brunswick with St. John's (possessive) Newfoundland

HISTORY
New Brunswick was known to European fishermen in the late 1400s. At that time, the region was inhabited by the Malecite and Micmac Indians. The first French settlers, known as Acadians, arrived in 1604. The Acadians, endured wars and feuds between the British and French before many of them were shipped, following a British victory in war, to the French colony of Louisiana, where they are known today as "Cajuns." Their land was then granted to British colonists, but the French population remained a steady force in the region. New Brunswick joined the other provinces in 1867 to form the Dominion of Canada.

PEOPLE
Today, New Brunswick still has the highest percentage of Francophones outside Quebec, making up 250,000 of its 738,000 residents. When the Canadian Constitution was "repatriated," New Brunswick was the only province that enshrined its official bilingualism in the document. The coasts and river valleys are the most populated areas. Saint John is the largest city, followed by Moncton and Fredericton, the provincial capital.