If you are moving to Saint John, you'll find that it is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, having received its papers of incorporation in 1785. The city itself occupies the hilly area on either side of the Saint John River, at the point where it flows into the Bay of Fundy. Moving to Saint John will show you a perfect example of an old industrial port city in eastern Canada. Historically, it was the presence of this port [which is ice free all year long] that promoted Saint John's economic development. Saint John has always been a city of immigrants, and today Saint John has a higher concentration of Irish Canadians than any other city in the country.
Truly, there is no shortage of things to do after moving to Saint John. Every July the city holds Loyalist Days, which remember the arrival in the 18th-century of American loyalists to the area. The By-the-Sea Festival held every August celebrates the city's performing arts, while the Franco-Frolic every June celebrates Acadian culture and traditions.
Located on the east side of the river, downtown St. John contains a web of narrow streets lined with historic buildings and homes. An urban renewal program which was begun in the early 1980s has revitalized the waterfront and converted many old warehouses into collections of trendy restaurants and shops. A system of escalators, elevators, and sky walks transports you through hilly Saint John without effort. Located in the heart of the market square is Canada's oldest museum - the New Brunswick Museum. It is devoted not only to the work of New Brunswick artists, but it also illuminates the history of the provinces many different inhabitants: the Aboriginals, the Acadians, the American loyalists, as well as the variety of other immigrant groups who have come to call the city home.
On the city’s west bank stands the Carlton Martello Tower, a circular tower built during the war of 1812 to protect the port from American attack. Today, guides dressed in 19th-century clothing explain both the history of the city of Saint John and of the tower itself. Moving to the north of Saint John, the University of New Brunswick, [established 1964] has roughly 20,000 full and part-time students, and is rapidly becoming a center for Canadian Information Technology research.
Economically, moving to Saint John will teach you that the city owes much of its current economic success to industrialist K.C. Irving, who created a vast empire with interests in oil, shipbuilding, forestry, transportation, and the media. Currently, the Irving family owns three out of the four English-language newspapers in New Brunswick. Other important economic activities are generated from the shipping transiting the port of Saint John, the Moosehead brewery, the New Brunswick Power Corp., and a variety of call centers in information technology startups which are slowly transforming the city into an IT capital.
