# Kent County, New Brunswick

Kent County (2021 population 32,169) is located in east-central New Brunswick, Canada. The county features a unique blend of cultures including Mi'kmaq, Acadian, and English. Some larger tourist attractions include the dune de Bouctouche, Kouchibouguac National Park, and Bonar Law Commons.
Federally, it is split between the ridings of Beauséjour, represented by Dominic LeBlanc of the Liberal Party of Canada and Miramichi—Grand Lake, represented by Jake Stewart of the Conservative Party of Canada. Provincially, it is split between the electoral districts of Kent North and Kent South.

## History

Established in 1826 from Northumberland County: named for Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820) and the father of Queen Victoria.

## Census subdivisions
### Communities

There are five municipalities within Kent County (listed by 2016 population):
| Official Name | Designation | Area km$^2$ | Population | Parish |
| Bouctouche | Town | 18.09 | 2,361 | Wellington |
| Saint-Antoine | Village | 6.32 | 1,733 | Dundas |
| Richibucto | Town | 11.93 | 1,266 | Richibucto |
| Saint-Louis-de-Kent | Village | 2.00 | 856 | Saint-Louis |
| Rexton | Village | 6.18 | 830 | Richibucto |

### First Nations

There are three First Nations reserves in Kent County (listed by 2016 population):
| Official Name | Designation | Area km$^2$ | Population | Parish |
| Richibucto 15 | Reserve | 12.18 | 1,937 | Weldford |
| Indian Island 28 | Reserve | 0.28 | 138 | Richibucto |
| Buctouche 16 | Reserve | 0.35 | 96 | Wellington |
Note – Richibucto 15, formerly Big Cove Band is now called Elsipogtog First Nation

### Parishes

The county is subdivided into twelve parishes (listed by 2016 population):
| Official Name | Area km$^2$ | Population | Municipalities | Unincorporated communities |
| Dundas | 174.63 | 3,914 | | Cormierville / Caissie Cape / Grande-Digue / Guguen / Lower-Guguen / Notre-Dame / White's Settlement |
| Wellington | 184.32 | 3,079 | Bouctouche (town) Buctouche 16 (reserve) | Buctouche Baie / Buctouche-Sud / Caissie-Village / Chockpish / Cocagne / Collette-Village / Grand Saint-Antoine / Maria-de-Kent / McIntosh Hill / McKees Mills / Saint-David / Sainte-Anne-de-Kent / Saint-Édouard-de-Kent / Saint-François-de-Kent / Saint-Gabriel-de-Kent / Saint-Grégoire / Saint-Jean-Baptiste / Saint-Joseph-de-Kent / Saint-Maurice / Saint-Pierre-de-Kent / Saint-Thomas-de-Kent / St. Gabriel-de-Kent / Ste. Anne De Kent / Upper Saint-Maurice / / Village-des-Arsenault / Village-Sainte-Croix / Village-Saint-Irénée / Ward Corner / Wellington |
| Saint-Charles | 174.78 | 1,997 | | Aldouane / Aldouane Station / Grande-Aldouane / Kent Lake / Kent Lake Siding / Lower Saint-Charles / Petite-Aldouane / Saint-Charles / Saint-Charles-Nord / Saint-Ignace Siding |
| Saint Mary | 238.44 | 1,972 | Saint-Antoine (village) | Bastarache / Champdoré / Coates Mills / Dollard Settlement / Fisher Hill / Kent Boom / McNairn / Murphy Settlement / Roy / Saint-Cyrille / Saint-Fabien / Saint-Lazare / Sainte-Marie-de-Kent / South Saint-Norbert / Upper Buctouche |
| Richibucto | 249.05 | 1,887 | Richibucto (town) Rexton (village) Indian Island 28 (reserve) | Bedec / Bells Mills / Cap-de-Richibouctou / Cap-Lumière / Côte-Sainte-Anne / East Galloway / Galloway / Jardineville / Peters Mills / Petit-Chockpish / Pirogue / Richibucto Village Cape / Richibucto-Village / Saint-Charles Station / Sainte-Anne-de-Kent / Village-La-Prairie / West Galloway |
| Saint-Louis | 258.74 | 1,802 | Saint-Louis-de-Kent (village) | Bretagneville / Camerons Mill / Canisto Road / Cap-de-Saint-Louis / Chemin Canisto / Desherbiers / Guimond-Village / Petit-Large / Pont-du-Milieu / Saint-Ignace / Saint-Olivier |
| Weldford | 611.30 | 1,338 | Richibucto 15 (reserve) | Balla Philip / Bass River / Bass River Point / Beersville / Browns Yard / Bryants Corner / Cails Mills / Coal Branch / Clairville / East Branch / Fords Mills / Jailletville / Kent Junction / Saint-Joseph / Lower Main River / Molus River / Mundleville / Normandie / Saint-Norbert / Smiths Corner / South Branch / Targettville / Village-Saint Augustin / West Branch |
| Saint-Paul | 228.72 | 842 | | Birch Ridge / Bon-Secours / Légerville / McLean Settlement / Saint-Paul / Sweeneyville / Terrains de L'Évêque / Village-des-Belliveau / Village-des-Cormier / Village-des-Léger |
| Acadieville | 332.22 | 709 | | Acadie Siding / Acadieville / Barrieau / Branche du Nord / Centre-Acadie / Johnson Road / Noinville / Pineau / Richard-Village / Saint-Athanase / Saint-Luc / Vautour / Village-Saint-Jean / Village-Saint-Pierre |
| Carleton | 435.95 | 708 | | Carleton / Claire-Fontaine / Fontaine / Kouchibouguac / Laketon / Middle Kouchibouguac / Pointe-Sapin / Pointe-Sapin-Centre / Rivière-au-Portage / Saint-Camille / South Kouchibouguac / Tweedie Brook |
| Harcourt | 1,170.96 | 346 | | Adamsville / Coal Branch / Grangeville / Harcourt / Hébert / Mortimer / Saint-Sosime |
| Huskisson | 369.33 | 15 | | Huskisson |

## Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Kent County had a population of 32,169 living in 14,074 of its 16,274 total private dwellings, a change of 5.6% from its 2016 population of 30,475. With a land area of 4,550.38 km$^2$ (1,756.91 sq mi), it had a population density of 7.1/km$^2$ (18.3/sq mi) in 2021.

### Language

The dominant dialect of Acadian French spoken in Kent County is Chiac.
Canada Census Mother Tongue – Kent County, 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 % |
| 2016 | 30,230 | 20,800 | 2.7% | 68.81% | 7,455 | 6.3% | 24.66% | 410 | 3.5% | 1.37% | 1,495 | 1.3% | 4.95% |
| 2011 | 30,285 | 21,355 | 4.4% | 70.51% | 6,990 | 6.1% | 23.08% | 425 | 18.1% | 1.40% | 1,515 | 12.2% | 5.00% |
| 2006 | 31,000 | 22,330 | 2.3% | 72.03% | 6,585 | 7.1% | 21.24% | 360 | 17.2% | 1.16% | 1,725 | 13.9% | 5.56% |
| 2001 | 30,965 | 22,865 | 4.1% | 73.84% | 6,150 | 0.6% | 19.86% | 435 | 50.0% | 1.40% | 1,515 | 17.4% | 4.89% |
| 1996 | 31,605 | 23,840 | n/a | 75.43% | 6,185 | n/a | 19.57% | 290 | n/a | 0.92% | 1,290 | n/a | 4.08% |

## Access routes

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