Land for sale in Saint John County, New Brunswick

About Saint John County

The area

Saint John County sits on the Bay of Fundy where the Saint John River meets the sea. It had about 76,600 people in 2021 on about 1,460 km² of land, and the City of Saint John held about 69,900 of them. The rest lived in the rural parishes counted in 2021: Simonds (about 3,900), Musquash (about 1,300), Saint Martins (about 1,200) and the village of St. Martins (about 300). In the 2023 local government reform, St. Martins, Fairfield and parts of the Simonds and Saint Martins districts east of the city became the Village of Fundy-St. Martins. Other parts of Simonds and Saint Martins went to the Fundy Rural District, and Musquash, to the west, became part of the rural community of Fundy Shores.

History

The river, Wolastoq, and its watershed are the homeland of the Wolastoqiyik, who had a 17th-century settlement near its mouth; the province acknowledges New Brunswick as unceded Wolastoqey, Mi'gmaq and Peskotomuhkati territory. Loyalists landed at the river mouth in 1783, and Saint John became Canada's first incorporated city in 1785. Shipbuilding drove the port city through the 1800s, and St. Martins yards launched more than 500 wooden sailing ships between 1803 and 1900.

Services and access

Saint John Regional Hospital (Horizon Health) is the province's largest tertiary hospital, with a 24-hour emergency department and the provincial trauma and heart programs. Route 111 leaves Route 1 in the city and runs about 39 km east to St. Martins; the Fundy Trail Parkway, a 30 km coastal drive in a provincial park, is a few minutes from the village. Saint John Airport has scheduled flights on Air Canada, Flair, Pascan and Porter. Irving Oil, J.D. Irving, Moosehead Breweries and Cooke are headquartered in the region.

Land and climate

Fundy tides have cut sea caves into the red sandstone cliffs at St. Martins, part of the Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark. Only a licensed New Brunswick contractor may drill a private well, and the owner then gets a voucher for a first water test.

Before you buy

The City of Saint John does its own planning and permits. The Fundy Regional Service Commission issues building and development permits and handles subdivisions and rural plans for Fundy-St. Martins and the Fundy Rural District, whose rural plan is still being drafted. The Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission does planning for Fundy Shores. Any work within 30 m of a watercourse or wetland needs a provincial permit. In 2018 the Quispamsis-Saint John gauge reached 5.76 m against a 4.2 m flood stage. The city has four flood risk areas, where digging, filling or changing a building footprint needs a special permit. The provincial flood hazard maps cover coastal and river flooding to 2100.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (tables 98-10-0002, 98-10-0007)
• Government of New Brunswick, local governance reform: Fundy RSC entities, Southwest RSC entities, planning contacts
• Village of Fundy-St. Martins and Fundy Shores
• Fundy Regional Service Commission: planning and building, Fundy Rural District rural plan
• Parks Canada, Wolastoq National Historic Site and Government of New Brunswick, acknowledging traditional territory
• City of Saint John: history, flood risk area development permit
• Stonehammer Geopark, St. Martins
• Horizon Health Network, Saint John Regional Hospital
• Government of New Brunswick, covered bridges (Route 111 directions) and NB Parks, Fundy Trail Provincial Park
• Saint John Airport, flights and Envision Saint John, invest
• Government of New Brunswick: watercourse and wetland alteration permits, private wells
• Government of New Brunswick: 2018 flood record, flood hazard maps

Written by AcreScout from the sources listed; facts checked October 1, 2026. Rules change: confirm anything that matters with the municipality.