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Fredericton (; French pronunciation: [fʁedeʁiktœn]) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the dominant natural feature of the area. One of the main urban centres in New Brunswick, as of 2026, according to the city's update on building development, it has a population of approximately 79,000 with the metropolitan population in 2025 estimated at 125,303. It is the third-largest city in the province, after Moncton and Saint John.
An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities, The University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University, as well as the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, New Brunswick Community College and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Fredericton Region Museum, and The Playhouse, a performing arts venue. The city hosts the annual Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, attracting regional and international jazz, blues, rock, and world artists. The city also hosts the Garrison Night Market during the summer months which showcases many local vendors, artists, and musicians. Fredericton is also an important and vibrant centre for the region's top visual artists with artists such as Goodridge Roberts, and Molly and Bruno Bobak having lived and worked here.
As a provincial capital, its economy is tied to the public sector; however, the city also has a growing IT and commercial sector. The city has the highest percentage of residents with post-secondary education in the province and the highest per capita income of any city in New Brunswick.
There is archaeological evidence of a camp in the area 12,000 years ago, and the Wolastoqiyik farmed several kilometres upriver.
Colonists from the Kingdom of France in the late 1600s built Fort Nashwaak on the north side of the Saint John River, as the capital of Acadia. It withstood a British attack in 1696, but the capital was later moved to Port Royal (Annapolis Royal). In 1713, Acadians escaping the British takeover of Nova Scotia settled the site, naming it Pointe Ste-Anne. It was destroyed in 1758 when the population of about 83 were exiled during the expulsion of the Acadians.
It was in 1783, when United Empire Loyalists arrived from New England, that the history of modern Fredericton began. The following year, New Brunswick was partitioned from Nova Scotia and became its own colony. Pointe-Ste-Anne was renamed "Fredericstown", after Frederick, second son of King George III. It became the capital of the new colony, being considered to have a better defensive position than larger Saint John.
The streets were laid out in the typical grid pattern of the time, with the names reflecting loyalist tendencies: Charlotte, Brunswick, George, King, and Queen.
In 1785, it became the shire town of York County. In 1790 the New Brunswick Legislative Building was constructed. As a centre of government, it attracted educational institutions, with King's College (now the University of New Brunswick) being the first English-language university in Canada, and religious institutions, with Christ Church Cathedral being built as the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton in 1853.
It was a British garrison town from 1784 to 1869, and the military compound is preserved as a National Historic Site of Canada.
With the New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program in the 1960s, county councils were abolished, and government services were centralized provincially in Fredericton, increasing jobs and population.
On 1 January 2023, Fredericton annexed parts of five local service districts;
The Saint John River runs through Fredericton. The city's downtown core lies on the flat low-lying ground on either side of the river, with most of the city's post-war suburban development occurring on the gently sloping hills of the river valley.
At an altitude of about 17 m (56 ft) above sea level, Fredericton is nestled in the Pennsylvanian Basin. It differs markedly from the geologically older parts of the province. There are prominently two distinct areas in the region that are divided around the area of Wilsey Road, in the east end of the city. In the west side, the bedrock underneath the earth is topographically dominant, whereas the other is controlled by Pleistocene and recent deposits leading to the rivers (resulting in the area being shallow and wide). Fredericton and its surroundings are rich in water resources, which, coupled with highly arable soil, make the Fredericton region ideal for agriculture. The Saint John River and one of its major tributaries, the Nashwaak River, come together in Fredericton. The uninhabited parts of the city are heavily forested.
Fredericton has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb under the Köppen climate classification system), with short, warm summers and long, cold winters. The city has high humidity and precipitation year-round; on average, Fredericton receives approximately 1,100 mm (43 in) of precipitation per year.
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Fredericton had a population of 63,116 living in 28,478 of its 29,892 total private dwellings, a change of 7.5% from its 2016 population of 58,721. With a land area of 133.93 km2 (51.71 sq mi), it had a population density of 471.3/km2 (1,220.6/sq mi) in 2021.
At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Fredericton CMA had a population of 108,610 living in 46,357 of its 48,761 total private dwellings, a change of 5.8% from its 2016 population of 102,690. With a land area of 6,014.66 km2 (2,322.27 sq mi), it had a population density of 18.1/km2 (46.8/sq mi) in 2021.
The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 7,790 persons or 12.6% of the total population of Fredericton. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were United Kingdom (765 persons or 9.8%), China (645 persons or 8.3%), United States of America (570 persons or 7.3%), Syria (505 persons or 6.5%), Philippines (500 persons or 6.4%), India (460 persons or 5.9%), Egypt (300 persons or 3.9%), Iran (245 persons or 3.1%), Lebanon (205 persons or 2.6%), and Democratic Republic of the Congo (180 persons or 2.3%).
In 2021, Fredericton was 82.5% white/European, 3.5% Indigenous and 14.0% visible minorities. The largest visible minority groups were Black (2.9%), South Asian (2.9%), Arab (2.5%), Chinese (1.8%) and Filipino (1.0%).
Fredericton accepted the highest number of refugees from the Syrian Civil War per capita of any Canadian city.
English is spoken as a mother tongue by 80.2% of residents. Other mother tongues spoken are French (6.1%), Arabic (2.1%), Chinese languages (1.4%), Spanish (0.7%), Russian (0.6%), and Persian languages (0.5%). 1.4% of the population listed both English and French as mother tongues.
According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Fredericton included:
Those who declare a religion are predominantly Protestant. Fredericton has a synagogue, a mosque, a Hindu temple, a Unitarian fellowship, and a Shambhala Buddhist meditation centre.
The Government of New Brunswick and the universities are the primary employers. The policies of centralizing provincial government functions during the 1960s led to an expansion of the population.
The 1960s also saw an expansion of the University of New Brunswick due to increased post-war university enrolment, as well as the construction of Saint Thomas University. The Law School, now the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law moved from Saint John to the Fredericton area.
The city has been investing actively in IT infrastructure. The City of Fredericton won the "Judges Innovation Award" at the 2004 Canadian Information Productivity Awards due to their "Fred-eZone" free municipality wide Wi-Fi initiative. This and other innovations by the city's utelco, e-Novations, led Intel to do a case study on their successes. Fred-eZone spans much of the city's downtown and parts of surrounding residential areas, as well as peripheral commercial areas such as Fredericton's Regent Mall. In 2008 and 2009 the Intelligent Community Forum selected Fredericton as a Top 7 Intelligent Community, based partly on the city's work in the IT sector.
Downtown Fredericton is generally considered to be the area bordered by the St. John River to the north, Smythe Street to the west, Church Street to the east and Brunswick Street to the south.
The downtown contains Kings Place Mall, a mixed-use office and retail complex that also serves as a major transfer point for Fredericton Transit.
Downtown Fredericton Inc. (DFI) is a non-profit Business Improvement Area (BIA) organization representing the central business district. It administers programs aimed at supporting revitalization, promotion and the commercial viability of the downtown in cooperation with private and public sector partners. In 2016, DFI received the Downtown Achievement Award of Excellence from the International Downtown Association for a local awareness marketing campaign. The campaign featured local entrepreneur Jessie Yerxa and was created by Fredericton agency Ginger.
The Playhouse is the main venue for Theatre New Brunswick, the province's largest professional theatre company.
Festivals include the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, the Silver Wave Film Festival, the Flourish Arts & Music Festival, and Symphony New Brunswick.
Fredericton has a long literary tradition, having been home to Jonathan Odell, Charles G. D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Francis Sherman. Writers living in Fredericton include Raymond Fraser, Herb Curtis, David Adams Richards, Mark Anthony Jarman, and Gerard Beirne.
Fredericton's beloved fountain "Freddy the Nude Dude", officially known as "Putto with Fish" sits outside City Hall at 397 Queen St. "Freddy the Nude Dude" was donated to the city by Mayor George Edward Fentey, in 1885. The statue depicts a nude Cherub and is a beloved fixture of downtown Fredericton. The famed statue has had some trouble since its historic arrival in 1885. In January 2013, "Freddy the Nude Dude" was taken south to Alabama for a replication of the original statue after 128 winters worth of damage. The original Freddy is kept safely inside City Hall where it is protected from further weather damage.
Styles range from Victorian to modern. There are 12 National Historic Sites in the city, beyond the dozen National Historic People and two National Historic Events honoured there.
There are no professional sports teams in Fredericton, although both universities have extensive athletic programs. The UNB Reds play in the Atlantic University Sport conference of U Sports and St. Thomas Tommies play in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association conference of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association for most sports, although their women's hockey team, cross-country teams, and track & field teams play in the Atlantic University Sports conference of U Sports.
Fredericton's high schools compete in a variety of sports in the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association.
UNB's men's hockey team are 10-time National Champions, and the highest attended sporting events in the city.
The Junior A hockey team is the Fredericton Red Wings. The former Fredericton Express and Fredericton Canadiens were American Hockey League teams.
Each summer the Fredericton Loyalists host the New Brunswick Timber team which competes in the Rugby Canada Super League.
Fredericton often holds high class curling competitions.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Fredericton”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.