!n 1966 the New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program brought about the end of the counties. Since they no longer serve an administrative role, they are historical. In law, the fifteen county regions and their divisions continued. The Territorial Divisions Act of New Brunswick is the legislation that describes the county regions and their towns.
Today they are used as census units, and for registration of real-estate. Because the county area is in use by Statistics Canada as a census division, we know their populations. Also, former county seats (known in the province as shire towns) are included in the list.
A lot of New Brunswickers know which county they are in, and there are road signs that continue to mark some boundaries. Maps continue to depict the county regions.
In the English period of Canadian history, New Brunswick territory was part of Nova Scotia, when it was included in Cumberland and Sunbury Counties.[1] Counties were at the top of a three-layer government system which saw appointments of officials and members of governors assembly. After the split of the provinces in 1784 following the Revolutionary War and Loyalist emigration, the original eight counties were created. Saint John and County was the first city to receive a Royal Charter in the colonial Maritime Provinces.
