Land for sale in Sunbury County, New Brunswick

About Sunbury County

The area

Sunbury County lies downriver from Fredericton on both banks of the Wolastoq (Saint John River). It had about 27,900 people in 2021 on about 2,690 km² of land. Much of it is low floodplain and wetland along the Saint John and Oromocto rivers and the west end of Grand Lake. Oromocto is the largest town (about 9,000 in 2021, before it took in part of Lincoln in 2023). Since the 2023 local governance reform the local governments are Oromocto, the villages of Fredericton Junction and Tracy, Sunbury-York South and part of the Municipality of Grand Lake. Burton, Maugerville, Blissville and parts of Gladstone, Sheffield and Northfield belong to the Capital Region Rural District.

History

This is Wolastoqey (Maliseet) territory, lived in around Oromocto for at least 4,000 years; Oromocto First Nation (Welamukotuk) has its reserve at Oromocto. Acadians were the first European settlers, followed by Planters and Loyalists who farmed the intervales. Oromocto built about 50 wooden ships between 1825 and 1875, then dwindled until Camp Gagetown opened in the 1950s; McGill planner Harold Spence-Sales laid out the new town in 1956 to serve the base.

Services and access

Oromocto Public Hospital (Horizon Health) has an emergency department with limited hours (check Horizon's site); the nearest 24-hour one is at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. The Trans-Canada (Highway 2) runs through Oromocto, about 22 km from Fredericton; the Burton Bridge at Oromocto crosses to Route 105 on the north bank. Fredericton International Airport, at Lincoln about 5 km from Oromocto, has scheduled Air Canada, Porter and WestJet flights. Base Gagetown, with about 6,500 military members and 1,000 civilians, is the province's second-largest public employer.

Land and climate

The Grand Lake lowlands have New Brunswick's warmest summers and longest growing season, because the lake and rivers store heat and push back the fall frost. Spring floods cover the intervales and usually drain by early June, leaving silt that feeds fruit, vegetable and livestock farms. Away from the rivers the soils are mostly compact, acidic loams and clay loams that drain poorly.

Before you buy

Oromocto has its own planning and building permit office. The Capital Region Service Commission is the planning office for the rest of the county, including the rural district, and it sells a zoning confirmation letter for a property. Clearing or building within 30 m of a watercourse or wetland needs a provincial Watercourse and Wetland Alteration permit. Flooding is the main hazard. In 2018 the river at Maugerville reached 7.33 m, dozens of people at Sheffield-Lakeville Corner were rescued and the Trans-Canada closed between Fredericton and Moncton; it closed again in 2019. Check a lot on the provincial flood hazard maps and flood history database and follow River Watch each spring.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (tables 98-10-0002, 98-10-0007)
• Government of New Brunswick, Regional Service Commission 11 entities, Capital Region Rural District and planning department contacts
• Government of New Brunswick, First Nations communities
• Town of Oromocto, Municipal Plan (2016) and Planning and Compliance Office
• Government of New Brunswick, Our Landscape Heritage, Grand Lake Lowlands Ecoregion
• Horizon Health Network, Oromocto Public Hospital and Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital
• Fredericton International Airport
• Government of Canada, 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown
• Capital Region Service Commission, Sunbury-York South town hall presentation
• Government of New Brunswick, Watercourse and Wetland Alteration permit
• Government of New Brunswick, flood hazard maps and flood history: 2018 flood, 2019 flood

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