Fredericton was named after the second son of England’s King George III. Nicknames for Fredericton include “Freddy”, “Celestial City”, “City of Stately Elms” and the tongue-in-cheek “Freddy Beach” given Fredericton’s frigid winters.
Fredericton is home to historical heritage sites including Christ Church Cathedral, finished in the early 1850s and was the first Gothic Revival cathedral built in North America.
Research website numbeo ranks Fredericton in the top 26% compared to the 250 cities evaluated on its overall quality of life index at June 2020. Fredericton scored well on index factors such as traffic commute time (lowest 2%), property price to income ratio (lowest 3%), pollution (lowest 5%) and safety (top 22%).
Temperatures in New Brunswick’s capital city vary widely depending on the season. Fredericton’s highest recorded temperature was 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius) on August 18, 1935. In contrast, January 19, 1925 was Fredericton’s coldest day with temperatures as low as -38 degrees Fahrenheit (-38.9 degrees Celsius).
Fredericton serves as headquarters for one of Canada’s largest 500 corporations by revenue. Formerly called New Brunswick Power Holding Corporation, NB Power is a provincial Crown Corporation responsible for electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
From an international trade perspective, New Brunswick shipped C$13.1 billion worth of goods around the globe during 2019. Its most valuable exports include refined petroleum oils (48.8% of New Brunswick’s global total), lobsters and other crustaceans (7.8%), petroleum coke and oil residues (4.4%), lumber (3.4%), liquid petroleum or hydrocarbon gases (3.3%), uncoated paper (2.3%), chemical woodpulp (2.3%), fresh or chilled fish (2%) then frozen potatoes (1.9%) according to a Trade Data Online report.
Fredericton’s unemployment rate was 12.4% at June 2020 up from 7.8% in effect 12 months earlier.
Capital Facts for Fredericton, Canada: Quick Reference
Geography
Capital landmarks: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton Region Museum, Legislative Assembly Building, Historic Garrison District, Ingrid Mueller Art & Concepts, Officers’ Square, The Lighthouse
Famous People
Below, you will find 10 of the most famous people born in Fredericton, Canada.
- Catharine Pendrel, world champion cross-country cyclist (born Sep. 30, 1980)
- Willie O’Ree, first black professional NHL hockey player (born Oct. 15, 1937)
- Anna Silk, actress (born Jan. 31, 1974)
- David Myles, singer-songwriter (born May 12, 1981)
- Jake Allen, professional NHL hockey goaltender (born Aug. 7, 1990)
- Chris Renaud, Olympic backstroke swimming silver medalist (born Aug. 29, 1976)
- Brandon Brewer, light-middleweight professional boxer (born Oct. 22, 1984)
- Buster Harvey, professional NHL hockey player (born Apr. 2, 1950)
- Donalda Duprey, Olympic hurdler (born Mar. 1, 1967)
- Danny Grant, professional NHL hockey player (born Feb. 21, 1945)
Note: Data for our Famous People tab was sourced from Google searches of published Wikipedia articles specific to each person’s name.
Population
Demonym for a Fredericton resident: Frederictonian
Population: 63,326 (Fredericton city limits) at July 2019
Density: 1,237 people per square mile (478 per square kilometer)
Population: 110,685 (Metropolitan Fredericton)
Density: 50 people per square mile (19 per square kilometer)
Population: 772,094 (New Brunswick) in 2020
Density: 28 people per square mile (11 per square kilometer)
Financial
GDP: US$36.966 billion in 2018 (New Brunswick)
GDP per person: $47,950
Note: The above GDP metrics are on a total expenditures basis and are in Canadian dollars.
Official currency used in Fredericton: Canadian dollars
Research
Research Sources:
Brookings Institution, Global Metro Monitor Report (includes GDP data).
Fortune, Global 500 2016.
Government of Canada, Trade Data Online.
National Post, The FP500.
Numbeo, Quality of Life Index by City.
Official Government Website, City of Fredericton official website.
Statistics Canada, Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database.
Statistics Canada, Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory.
Statistics Canada, Labour force characteristics, unadjusted, by economic region (3 month moving average) Nova Scotia, New Brunswick.
Wikimedia Commons, City Flags.
Note: Some city flags were unavailable. If so, attribution belongs to Wikimedia Commons for pertinent country flags.
Wikipedia, Fredericton.
Wikipedia, List of Canadian provinces and territories by gross domestic product.
Wikipedia, New Brunswick.
World Population Review, New Brunswick Population 2020.
Frederictonians celebrate Canada Day as a national holiday each July 1.
Within city limits, Fredericton occupies 51.2 square miles (132.6 square kilometers). The provincial capital city’s population was 63,326 people in 2019.
Including the city of Fredericton plus its surrounding rural municipalities, cities and towns, Metropolitan Fredericton has a land area of 2,218.3 square miles (5,745.4 square kilometers) home to an estimated capital area population of 110,685 inhabitants.
The total land area for the Canadian province of New Brunswick extends over 27,590 square miles (71,450 square kilometers).
Fredericton’s average population density is 1,237 residents per square mile (478 per square kilometer).
Population density dilutes within the larger Metropolitan Fredericton area averaging 50 inhabitants per square mile (19 per square kilometer).
Zooming out to New Brunswick’s provincial land boundaries, population density further dilutes to 28 people per square mile (11 per square kilometer).
