# Balmoral Parish, New Brunswick

Balmoral is a geographic parish in Restigouche County, New Brunswick, Canada.
For governance purposes it is divided between the city of Campbellton, the town of Heron Bay, the village of Bois-Joli, the Moose Meadows 4 Indian reserve, and the Restigouche rural district, all of which are members of the Restigouche Regional Service Commission.
Before the 2023 governance reform, along Route 275 beginning near the eastern parish line and running southwest to the western parish line were the village of Balmoral, the local service district of Blair Athol, and the village of Atholville, with the LSD of Balmoral-St. Maure along the southern boundary of Balmoral; small areas in the northeastern corner were part of the villages of Eel River Crossing and Charlo, and the remainder of the parish formed the LSD of the parish of Balmoral, often called Balmoral-Maltais to distinguish it from Balmoral-St. Maure. The reform amalgamated Balmoral, Balmoral-St. Maure, Blair Athol, and parts of the parish LSD along the Boissonault, Drapeau and Saint-Maure Roads with Eel River Crossing and areas neighbouring it to form Bois-Joli; Campbellton annexed part of the parish LSD along the southern side of McAbbie Road, Heron Bay annexed two areas of the parish LSD along the eastern parish line, and the remainder of the parish LSD became part of the rural district.

## Origin of name

The parish may have gotten its name from Balmoral Castle, Scotland, increasingly used by Queen Victoria at the time. William F. Ganong had no idea of its origin, noting only that there was a place of that name in Scotland.

## History

Balmoral was erected in 1896 from Dalhousie Parish.

## Boundaries

Balmoral Parish is bounded:
* on the northwest and north by a line beginning at a point about 350 metres north of Route 275 and about 900 metres westerly of the junction of Val-d'Amour Road with Route 275, then running northeasterly along the northwestern edge of the Balmoral Settlement to its northeastern corner, then turning 90º and running about 250 metres southeasterly, then turning 90º and running to Route 275, then running easterly along the southern edge of grants along Route 280 then those along Route 11 to meet a line running true south from near the northern end of the Eel River Bar Seawall;
* on the east by the line running due south from the Eel River Bar Seawall to the Northumberland County line;
* on the south by the county line;
* on the west by a line beginning on the county line about 2.9 kilometres west of the Lower West Branch Portage Brook, then running true north to the starting point.

## Communities

Communities at least partly within the parish. bold indicates an incorporated municipality or Indian reserve
* Atholville
* Balmoral
** Selwood
** Upper Balmoral
* Blair Athol
* Charlo
* Eel River Crossing
* Macabee (Brassard)
* Maltais (partly in Balmoral)
* Moose Meadows 4
* Ramsay Sheds
* Saint-Maure (partly in Balmoral)
* Simpsons Field

## Bodies of water

Bodies of water at least partly within the parish.
* Charlo River
* Eel River
* Jacquet River
* Little Southeast Upsalquitch River
* Popelogan River
* Popelogan Lake Branch River
* South Charlo River
* Southeast Upsalquitch River
* more than twenty officially named lakes

## Other notable places

Parks, historic sites, and other noteworthy places at least partly within the parish.
* Budworm City airstrip
* Goulette Brook Protected Natural Area
* Mount Akroyd Protected Natural Area
* Portage Lakes Protected Natural Area
* White Meadows

## Demographics

Parish population total did not include portions within Moose Meadows 4 or former municipalities. Revised census figures based on the 2023 local governance reforms have not been released.

### Population

| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1991 | 748 | — |
| 1996 | 780 | +4.3% |
| 2001 | 605 | −22.4% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 2006 | 619 | +2.3% |
| 2011 | 602 | −2.7% |
| 2011 rev | 260 | −56.8% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 2016 | 278 | +6.9% |
| 2021 | 309 | +11.2% |
2011 rev shows population after boundary changes :

### Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Balmoral Parish, New Brunswick :
| Census | Total | French | French | French | English | English | English | French & English | French & English | French & English | Other | Other | Other |
| Year | Responses | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % | Count | Trend | Pop % |
| 2021 | 305 | 260 | 8.3% | 85.2% | 50 | 42.9% | 16.4% | 5 | 500.0% | 1.64% | 0 | 100.0% | 0.00% |
| 2016 | 280 | 240 | 57.9% | 85.7% | 35 | 16.7% | 12.5% | 0 | 100.0% | 0% | 5 | 500.0% | 1.8% |
| 2011 | 605 | 570 | 0.9% | 94.21% | 30 | 25.0% | 4.96% | 5 | 50.0% | 0.83% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| 2006 | 615 | 565 | 4.6% | 91.87% | 40 | 60.0% | 6.50% | 10 | 60.0% | 1.63% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| 2001 | 575 | 540 | 30.3% | 93.91% | 25 | 25.0% | 4.35% | 10 | 0.0% | 1.74% | 0 | 0.0% | 0.00% |
| 1996 | 805 | 775 | n/a | 96.27% | 20 | n/a | 2.48% | 10 | n/a | 1.24% | 0 | n/a | 0.00% |

## Access Routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the parish, including external routes that start or finish at the parish limits: