Fast Facts About Fredericton

One of the Top 10 Cities of the Future- Fredericton was named one of the top 10 North American cities of the future by Foreign Direct Investment magazine.

ISO certified - Fredericton was the first city in Canada to achieve ISO certification for its entire municipal corporation.

Canada's 1st Free Wireless City - Fred-eZone, the municipally-owned free Wi-Fi Network, won the 2004 Canadian Information Productivity Award.

A Hot-bed of Activity - Fredericton is home to 70% of New Brunswick's knowledge-based companies. No wonder the Globe & Mail Report on Business called Fredericton "One of the Top Five New Technology Boomtowns" (Globe & Mail Report on Business Magazine)

A Rich and Diverse Research Centre - Local businesses have access to more than 50 research affiliations including the National Research Council (NRC) Institute for Information Technology (IIT)'s E-Business Research Centre.

"Best City for Business" (Canadian Business): The Boyd Study ranked Fredericton as the top city offering best value among nine major Canadian cities and Baltimore, Maryland (low cost US municipality). The study compared 500 person businesses occupying 125,000sq.ft. of Class A office space.

More Businesses Per Capita - The Fredericton region has one business for every fourteen people (KPMG's Competitive Alternatives Study).

Young, Skilled, Available Work Force - The City's population is younger than both the provincial and national averages. Graduates of two universities continue to grow the City's skilled workforce - particularly with respect to knowledge-based, research & development and customer contact centre employees.

More Educated & Bilingual - Fredericton has the third highest university-educated population in the entire country at 30.5%, and 21% having knowledge of both French and English (based on 2001 Census data).

Canada's greenest city - Fredericton has long been one of Canada's greenest communities. Some of the city's most recent awards prove it: 2006 Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) National Pollution Prevention Award for Greenhouse Gases Reduction and 2006 Environmental Leadership Award.

Retail Sales - Estimated at $1,175,830,000 for 2006 - 11% above the national average.

Affordable Housing - The cost of housing is well below the national average.

Canada's 1st Free Wireless City - With Fred-eZone, the municipally-owned Wi-Fi Network, and winner of a 2004 Canadian Information Productivity Award.

A Hot-bed of Activity - With Canada's largest per capita engineering cluster and the third highest per capita population with university degrees, it's no surprise that Fredericton is home to 70% of New Brunswick's knowledge-based companies. The City offers a synergistic environment for industry with its state-of-the-art facilities like the Fredericton Knowledge Park.

A Rich and Diverse Research Centre - With impressive expertise in the fields of technology, forestry, and agriculture, local businesses have access to more than 50 research affiliations including the National Research Council (NRC) Institute for Information Technology (IIT)'s E-Business Research Centre. Recognized globally for research and innovation, NRC is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology.

A Centre for Higher Education - Fredericton is home to two acclaimed universities plus a variety of training colleges and institutes.

A Short Commute - The City Centre is minutes away, whether you reside in the downtown core within a five-minute walk to work, in a suburb, or in a country setting - traffic jams are non-existent!

Centrally Located - Within an hour's drive to the U.S. Interstate 95 -- the major American north-south corridor; within a day's drive of Halifax, Toronto and New York; less than an hour away from Saint John - the region's busiest seaport; and just a fifteen minute drive from the Fredericton Airport.

Booming Tourism - With a record-making $198.4 million injected into the local economy during 2005. Source: Fredericton Tourism.

Clean, Safe Drinking Water - The City is proud of its excellent water quality - delivered by a well maintained distribution system.

Economic Drivers - CFB Gagetown, one of the largest military training bases in the commonwealth, infuses over $500 million dollars annually into the New Brunswick economy. The base employs over 3,800 military personnel and 1000 civilian staff. Source CFB.

Population - Fredericton's CA (census agglomeration area) has a population of 81,355 with a Greater Fredericton regional population of 124,172.

Young, Skilled, Available Work Force - The City's population is younger than both the provincial and national averages. Graduates of two universities continue to grow the City's skilled workforce - particularly with respect to knowledge-based, research & development and customer contact centre employees.

More Educated & Bilingual - Fredericton has the third highest university-educated population in the entire country at 30.5%, and 21% having knowledge of both French and English (based on 2001 Census data).