New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of four Atlantic provinces on the east coast of Canada.

New Brunswick was among the first places in North America to be explored and settled by Europeans. In 1784, after an influx of refugees from the American Revolutionary War settled in the area, the province was founded on territory from the partition of Nova Scotia. In 1785 Saint John became the first incorporated city in what is now Canada. The province prospered in the early 1800s and the population grew rapidly, reaching about a quarter of a million by mid-century.

After Confederation, wooden shipbuilding and lumbering declined, and protectionism disrupted trade ties with New England. The mid-1900s found New Brunswick to be one of the poorest regions of Canada, which was now mitigated by Canadian transfer payments and improved support for rural areas.