Bathurst (New Brunswick)

The economy is primarily focused on mining, fishing and forestry. Other sectors include: tourism, phone call centres, manufacturing, and provincial and federal government. The service sector is the city's largest employer. The city has one health care facility, Chaleur Regional Hospital.

The Bathurst Mining Camp provided for almost 50 years a lot of jobs to the regional economy. After it closed in 2013, unemployment rose over 20% in northern New Brunswick. A regional Tax Services Canada and a Transport Canada Marine Safety Service centre are located in the old downtown.

Bathurst had been the location of the annual Mi'kmaq (an Aboriginal people) summer coastal community of Nepisiguit prior to European settlement. Europeans first reached the shores of the Baie des Chaleurs when in 1534 it was named by Jacques Cartier. Early settlers from France came to the area in the 17th century in what became part of the colony of Acadia. In 1607 Samuel de Champlain sailed into the Miramichi, and in 1636, Nicolas Denys was granted a seignory by the French crown, apparently the third grant in the colony of Acadie.

Little is known about the region between the death of Nicholas Denys in 1688 and the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), whereby Louis XIV ceded the territory of Acadia to Anne, Queen of Great Britain. The British attempted to remove the remaining scattered Acadians from the Nepisiguit basin and Caraquet in late October 1761. Following the transfer of this part of Acadia to British control in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, many English and Scottish settlers arrived, eager to exploit the region's natural resources.

The community, which up to 1828 had been named St. Peters, was renamed in honour of Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst (1762–1834), Secretary of State for the Colonies of the British government. Its economic activities included farming, lumbering, and fishing.

Joseph Cunard, attracted by the county's timber resources, set up a branch of his family's shipbuilding firm here in 1837 and his production of ships in Bathurst harbor began in earnest. The age of timber ships began its decline in 1848. This event caused the shipbuilding firm to founder, and with it went New Brunswick's economy. A shipbuilder who followed in Cunard's wake by the name of John O'Brien built more than 60 ships from 1858 to 1877. It was not unusual during the heyday of Bathurst shipbuilding to see anywhere from five to fifteen ships in various stages of construction along the waterfront.

In the 19th century, men were eager to fell trees in the forest around Bathurst all winter long from sunup to sundown (Sundays excepted) for eight to ten dollars a month. Timber camps typically housed 50 men, who were each employed in one of several job descriptions.

The population of the Parish of Bathurst in 1861 was 3,771. Agriculture was the primary occupation of the denizens, and potatoes were the crop of choice. After the closure of Cunard, by 1871 Bathurst's population fell to 600.

The opening of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada in 1876 provided a fast connection from the port of Bathurst to the rest of North America which was essential for developing the region's principal industries in forestry and zinc mining. By 1904 Bathurst was a seaport, a port of entry on the Intercolonial Railway and the Caraquet and Gulf Shore Railway.

• 🌍 Bathurst Regional Airport (ZBF  ^IATA) (is about 10 minutes west of Bathurst on Highway 180). =Air service to Montreal with Air Canada Express. There are car rentals at the airport, and there is taxi service into town. International flights fly into Moncton, and one can either travel to Bathurst with a rental car, or take the train to Bathurst (see below). (updated Sep 2021)

See also: Rail travel in Canada

• 🌍 Bathurst station, 690 Thornton Ave (just off of Riverside Drive). (updated May 2022) Train operator:
  • VIA Rail Canada, toll-free: +1-888-842-7245. Operates train routes across Canada. (updated Mar 2022) Operates The Ocean route between Halifax and Montreal, including stops in Moncton and Sainte-Foy (near Quebec City). Travel time to Bathurst from Montreal is 13.5 hours, from Sainte-Foy is 9.5 hours, from Moncton is 3.75 hours, and from Halifax is 8.25 hours. Operates three trips per direction per week. A shuttle between train stations in Sainte-Foy and in Quebec City is available for The Ocean trains, but must be reserved in advance.

• Maritime Bus, toll-free: +1-800-575-1807, info@maritimebus.com. Operates bus service within New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. (updated Jan 2022) Operates a route between Campbellton and Moncton including stops in Dalhousie, Bathurst, Miramichi, and Moncton Airport. Travel time to Bathurst from Campbellton is 1.25 hours, from Miramichi is 45 minutes, and from Moncton is 2.75 hours.
• Travel to Bathurst from the following destinations involving same day transfers is as follows:
  • From Edmundston (11.25 hours), Fredericton (7.5 hours), Halifax (6.75 hours), and Saint John (7.75 hours) with a transfer in Moncton.
  • From Charlottetown (5.75 hours) with transfers in Amherst and Moncton.
  • From Antigonish (7.75 hours), North Sydney (10.5 hours), Sydney (11.25 hours) with transfers in Truro and Moncton.

From Moncton: Bathurst is 220 km on highways 15, 11 and 8.

From Quebec City: the most popular route is Highway 132 East through Matapedia, down to Campbellton, and then to Bathurst on Highway 11 South. Travelling down the Trans-Canada from Riviere-du-Loup, down to St-Leonard, NB, up to St-Quentin on Highway 17 North, and over to Bathurst on Highway 180 East takes you directly through the Appalachian mountains, and is quite an experience for the adventurous traveller.

From the U.S.: the fastest way to Bathurst is most likely across I-95 to Woodstock, NB, and up the Trans-Canada 2 West to St-Leonard, over to St-Quentin on Highway 17 North, and across to Bathurst on Highway 180 East. However, this route has few amenities between St-Leonard and Bathurst, with the exception of St-Quentin. A less-isolated route would be taking the Trans-Canada 2 East from Woodstock to Fredericton, then taking Highway 8 North to Bathurst.

From Nova Scotia: take Highway 104 across to Sackville, NB and continue to Moncton on Highway 2 West. Then take Highway 15 East to Shediac. From Shediac, take Highway 11 North to Bathurst.

From Prince Edward Island: cross the Confederation Bridge and continue to the 15/16 traffic circle. At the traffic circle, go on Highway 15 West to Shediac. From Shediac, take Highway 11 North to Bathurst.