Westmorland County, New Brunswick

Westmorland County (2021 population: 163,576^[1]) is a county in New Brunswick, a province of Canada. It is in the south-eastern part of the province. It contains the fast-growing commercial centre of Moncton and its northern and eastern suburbs. Also located in the county are the university town of Sackville and the local tourist destination of Shediac.

Westmorland
County
Location within New Brunswick.
Coordinates: 46.06°N 64.51°W / 46.06; -64.51
Country	Canada
Province	New Brunswick
Established	1785
Area [1]
• Land	3,659.74 km2 (1,413.03 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[1]
• Total	163,576
• Density	44.7/km2 (116/sq mi)
• Change 2016-2021	9.3%
• Dwellings	75,506
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code	506

Westmorland County is centrally located in the Maritimes and is New Brunswick's most populous county. Fishing and tourism are important industries along the Northumberland Strait shore, and there is some mixed farming in the Petitcodiac River Valley and in the Tantramar Marsh region. The city of Moncton accounts for half of the county's population and has developed as a major transportation, distribution, commercial and retail centre. Dorchester is the historic shire town.

Origins

The county, once a part of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, was one of the original eight counties delineated shortly after the creation of the British colony of New Brunswick in 1784. Initially it included what is now Albert County and part of Saint John County.

Due to sweeping social reforms of the Louis Robichaud premiership, the counties no longer serve their role as regional local government and administrative units.

Transportation

Major highways

• Route 2 (TCH)
• Route 15
• Route 16 (TCH)
• Route 106
• Route 112
• Route 114
• Route 126
• Route 128

Census subdivisions

Communities

There were the eleven municipalities within Westmorland County before the 2023 local governance reforms (listed with 2021 figures):^[2]

Official Name	Designation	Area km2	Population	Parish
Moncton	City	141.92	79,470	Moncton
Dieppe	City	54.05	28,114	Dorchester, Moncton
Shediac	Town	53.95	7,535	Shediac
Beaubassin East	Rural community	291.08	6,718	Botsford, Shediac
Sackville	Town	74.17	6,099	Sackville
Memramcook	Village	187.67	5,029	Dorchester
Cap-Pelé	Village	23.36	2,441	Botsford, Shediac
Salisbury	Village	13.54	2,387	Salisbury
Petitcodiac	Village	17.21	1,476	Salisbury
Dorchester	Village	5.79	906	Dorchester
Port Elgin	Village	2.66	381	Sackville, Westmorland

First Nations

There is one First Nations reserve in Westmorland County (population as of 2021):^[3]

Official Name	Designation	Area km2	Population	Parish
Fort Folly 1	Reserve	0.55	36	Dorchester

Parishes

The county is subdivided into seven parishes (listed by 2016 population):^[2]

Official Name	Area km2	Population	Municipalities	Unincorporated communities
Moncton	579.63	10,704	Moncton (city) Dieppe (city)	Allison / Ammon / Berry Mills / Boundary Creek / Canaan / Cape Breton / Gallagher Ridge / Greater Lakeburn / Indian Mountain / Irishtown / Lakeville / LeBlancville / Lutesville / McQuade / Meadow Brook / Melanson Settlement / New Scotland / O'Neil / Pacific Junction / Painsec / Painsec Junction / Scotch Settlement / Shaw Brook / Steeves Mountain / Stilesville
Shediac	196.71	5,144	Beaubassin East (rural community) Shediac (town)	Batemans Mills / Chapman Corner / East Shediac / Evangeline / MacDougall / Malakoff / Moncton Road / Petit Pre / Ohio-du-Barachois / Pointe-du-Chêne / Saint-Philippe / Scoudouc / Scoudouc Road / Shediac Bridge-Shediac River / Shediac Cape / Shediac Road / The Bluff
Salisbury	874.16	3,377	Salisbury (village) Petitcodiac (village)	Dobsons Corner / Fawcett / Fawcett Hill / Fredericton Road / Glenvale / Harewood / Havelock / Hicksville / Hillgrove / Intervale / Kay Settlement / Killams Mills / Kinnear Settlement / Leeman Hill / Lewis Mountain / Monteagle / North Branch / Pollett River / River Glade / Scott Road / Second North River / Steeves Settlement / The Glades / Upper Ridge / Wheaton Settlement
Sackville	579.98	1,204	Sackville (town)	Aboushagan / Aboushagan Road / Anderson Settlement / Babcock Road / British Settlement / Brooklyn / Brooklyn Road / Centre Village / Coles Island Road / Cookville / Evans / Fairfield / Harper's Brook / Johnson's Mills / Lower Rockport / Midgic / Rockport / Upper Rockport / Ward / West Sackville / Westcock / Wood Point / Woodhurst
Botsford	304.16	1,120	Cap-Pelé (village)	Bayfield / Bayside / Botsford / Cadman Corner / Cape Spear / Cape Tormentine / Chapmans Corner / Hardy / Johnston Point Road / Little Shemogue / Malden / Mates Corner / Melrose / Murray Corner / Murray Road / Petit-Cap / Smith Settlement / Spence Settlement / The Bluff / Timber River / Westmorland / Upper Cape / Woodside
Westmorland	175.43	997	Port Elgin (village)	Aulac / Baie-Verte / Baie Verte Road / Coburg / Etter Ridge / Fromm's Swamp / Halls Hill / Jolicure / Mount Whatley / Pointe de Bute / Tidnish Bridge / Uniacke Hill / Upper Point de Bute / Westmorland
Dorchester	90.13	438	Memramcook (village) Dorchester (village) Fort Folly 1 (reservation)	Calhoun / Cherry Burton / Dorchester Cape / Middleton / Taylor Village / Upper Dorchester

Demographics

Historical Census Data - Westmorland County, New Brunswick

Year	Pop.	±%
1991	114,745	—
1996	120,531	+5.0%
2001	124,688	+3.4%
2006	132,849	+6.5%
2011	144,158	+8.5%
2016	149,623	+3.8%
2021	163,576	+9.3%
[4][5][6][1]

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Westmorland County had a population of 163,576 living in 70,090 of its 75,506 total private dwellings, a change of 9.3% from its 2016 population of 149,623. With a land area of 3,659.74 km² (1,413.03 sq mi), it had a population density of 44.7/km² (115.8/sq mi) in 2021.^[1]

	2016	2011
Population	149,623 (+3.8% from 2011)	144,158 (+8.5% from 2006)
Land area	3,666.15 km2 (1,415.51 sq mi)	3,662.02 km2 (1,413.91 sq mi)
Population density	40.8/km2 (106/sq mi)	39.4/km2 (102/sq mi)
Median age	43.1 (M: 42.2, F: 43.9)	41.4 (M: 40.5, F: 42.4)
Private dwellings	71,839 (total)	67,842 (total)
Median household income	$61,903	$55,736

Canada census – Westmorland County, New Brunswick community profile

References: 2016^[2] 2011^[7]

Language

The dominant dialect of Acadian French spoken in Westmorland County is Chiac.^{[citation needed]}

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Westmorland County, New Brunswick[4][5][6]
Census		Total		English				French				French & English				Non-official languages
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2016		146,610		77,450	1.3%	52.83%		60,570	3.0%	41.31%		2,430	13.0%	1.66%		6,160	74.0%	4.20%
2011		140,925		76,475	7.8%	54.27%		58,795	7.2%	41.72%		2,115	67.2%	1.50%		3,540	17.6%	2.51%
2006		130,080		70,945	3.6%	54.54%		54,860	7.4%	42.17%		1,265	6.3%	0.97%		3,010	102.7%	2.31%
2001		122,405		68,510	1.2%	55.97%		51,060	6.7%	41.71%		1,350	7.2%	1.10%		1,485	12.9%	1.21%
1996		118,330		67,700	n/a	57.21%		47,860	n/a	40.45%		1,455	n/a	1.23%		1,315	n/a	1.11%

Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:^[8]

Highways Route 1 Route 2 (TCH) Route 15 Route 16 (TCH)

Principal Routes Route 106 Route 112 Route 115 Route 126 Route 128 Route 132 Route 133 Route 134 Route 140

Secondary Routes: Route 490 Route 880 Route 885 Route 890 Route 905 Route 925 Route 933 Route 935 Route 940 Route 945 Route 950 Route 955 Route 960

External Routes: Route 1 (TCH) Hwy 104 (TCH)

Protected areas and attractions

See also: List of historic places in Westmorland County, New Brunswick

Notable people

Main article: List of people from Westmorland County, New Brunswick

See also

• List of communities in New Brunswick