Quispamsis

History

The region was initially inhabited by the Maliseet First Nation, who were members of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The name "Quispamsis" was derived from the Maliseet language, signifying "little lake in the woods," possibly referring specifically to the present-day Ritchie Lake. Around 1783, Acadians, British pre-Loyalists and Loyalists settled in the area, with many individuals receiving land grants along the Kennebecasis and Hammond Rivers.

In December 1982, Quispamsis' application for town status was accepted by the province; it was New Brunswick's largest village at the time.

Amalgamation

Following the December 1992 release of a government discussion paper entitled "Strengthening Municipal Government in New Brunswick's Urban Centres", a series of localized feasibility studies were commissioned by the Frank McKenna's Liberals targeting six geographic areas: Edmunston, Campbellton, Dalhousie, Miramichi, Moncton, and Saint John. In each instance, a panel composed of local representatives and expert consulting staff made specific recommendations for each urban-centred region. The report for the Greater Saint John area, "A Community of Communities: Creating a stronger future" - often referred to simply as the Cormier Report - offered two potential solutions to the Province for consolidating the many municipalities in Greater Saint John, neither of which was ultimately adopted by government.

Option one offered by the Cormier Report was to create three communities with regionalization of some services. Under this option, the six Kennebecasis Valley communities (East Riverside-Kinghurst, Fairvale, Gondola Point, Quispamsis, Renforth, and Rothesay) plus the local service district of the Parish of Rothesay would be consolidated into one new municipality. The Town of Grand Bay and various unincorporated areas around Saint John would also be consolidated into the City of Saint John to form the second new municipality. The third municipality in this scenario would be Westfield, which would remain separate because it was more rural and less populated. In this scenario, many services including water and sewerage, planning, and economic development would be regionalized across the three municipalities.

The second option offered by Cormier was a full consolidation of eight of the existing communities into one new city. In this scenario, only Westfield would remain a separate municipality. Full consolidation was unpopular among residents outside the City of Saint John. Suburban residents stated generally that they were pleased with their communities as they were and that they liked their lower tax rates. As Cormier summarized it, residents "perceive Saint John as an expensive, poorly managed bureaucracy that does not serve its citizens well. They fear loss of control, loss of services, and loss of neighbourhood friendliness and sense of community."

Ultimately, neither of the two options was implemented. Rather, the provincial government chose to proceed with partial consolidations and opted to legislate cost sharing for five specific regional facilities. Quispamsis amalgamated on January 1, 1998 with the nearby communities of Gondola Point and Wells to form the present town, covering an area of 60 km2 and bordering the town of Rothesay to the southwest with the Hammond River along its northeastern boundary.

Occasional discussion about the possibility of further amalgamating Rothesay with Quispamsis has not proceeded beyond the discussion phase, though the two municipalities do collaborate extensively to share services and facilities. Notably, both towns' boundaries were also left largely unaltered by the 2023 New Brunswick local governance reform.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Quispamsis had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 56.97 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

|1981|6022 |1986|7185 |1991|8446 |1996|8839 |2001|13757 |2006|15239 |2011|17886 |2016|18245

Parks

There are a number of recreational parks in the area. Parks open at dawn and closed at dusk. Parks include:

Arts and Culture Park (12 Landing Court) – includes walking trails, WiFi, picnic/chess tables, benches, stage and mezzanine. During the summer months there are outdoor movies and music free of charge and ice skating during the winter months.

Hammond River Park (28 Reynar Drive) – includes 40 acres, a fire pit, barbecue, picnic tables, hiking trails and a log cabin which is available for rent.

Homestar Off Leash Dog Park (222 Vincent Road) – fenced-in area, trails and benches. Dogs are allowed off-leash.

Meenan's Cove Park (199 Model Farm Road) – includes picnic tables, barbecues, beach, boat dock, playground, ball field, walking trails and beach volleyball courts.

Ritchie Lake Park (Cedar Grove Drive) – includes picnic tables, beach and walking trails.

Qplex (20 Randy Jones Way) - includes two soccer fields, a baseball field, tennis courts, an arena, a swimming pool and a playground as well as many varied walking trails.

Gondola Point Beach - Gondola Point Beach is a supervised freshwater beach with changing rooms and picnic areas. It is situated on a sandbar overlooking the Kennebecasis River at the entrance to the Gondola Point Cable Ferry service in Quispamsis. A section of the beach is fenced off to allow dogs off-leash.

Transport

The Gondola Point Ferry, linking Quispamsis with the Kingston Peninsula, was originally installed by William Pitt and is the first underwater cable ferry in the world.

The COMEX bus service run by Saint John Transit runs through the Kennebecasis Valley and shuttles commuters from Quispamsis to Saint John every day, Mondays to Fridays. There are a few "park and ride" locations for commuters to leave their car for the day to take the bus into Saint John and along with other standing bus stops along the way.

Education

Quispamsis has a number of schools from grades K-12, these schools are:

Notable people

• Tricia Black - actress known for Pretty Hard Cases and an alumna of The Second City
• Blaine Higgs - Politician and 34th Premier of New Brunswick
• Randy Jones - Former professional ice hockey player who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets.

Notes

References

References

1. "Profile table".
2. "About Quispamsis".
3. "Quispamsis".
4. (December 29, 1982). "Village To Become Town". [[The Daily Gleaner]].
5. Finn, Jean-Guy. (2008). "Building Stronger Local Governments and Regions: An Action Plan for the Future of Local Governance in New Brunswick. Report of the Commissioner on the Future of Local Governance".
6. Cormier, E. F. (Skip). (1997). "A Community of Communities: Creating a Stronger Future. Local Government Options for the Greater Saint John Area.". Department of Municipalities, Culture, and Housing.
7. Cormier, E. F. (Skip). (1997). "A Community of Communities: Creating a Stronger Future. Local Government Options for the Greater Saint John Area". Department of Municipalities, Culture, and Housing.
8. E. F. (Skip), Cormier. (1997). "A Community of Communities: Creating a Stronger Future. Local Government Options for the Greater Saint John Area". Department of Municipalities, Housing, and Culture.
9. Finn, Jean-Guy. (2008). "Building Stronger Local Governments and Regions: An Action Plan for the Future of Local Governance in New Brunswick. Report of the Commissioner on the Future of Local Governance".
10. (January 3, 2008). "2 southern N.B. towns consider amalgamation". [[CBC.ca]].
11. Mcguire, Peter. (September 18, 2010). "Time for the valley to take the plunge?". telegraphjournal.com.
12. (2021). "Working together for vibrant and sustainable communities: White Paper". Province of New Brunswick.
13. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), New Brunswick". [[Statistics Canada]].
14. "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Quispamsis, New Brunswick". Statistics Canada.
15. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022-10-26). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population".
16. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2021-10-27). "Census Profile, 2016 Census".
17. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2015-11-27). "NHS Profile".
18. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2019-08-20). "2006 Community Profiles".
19. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2019-07-02). "2001 Community Profiles".
20. "Homestar Off Leash Dog Park".
21. "Gondola Point Beach".
22. "Ferry tale: How cable ferries became a way of life in southern N.B.".
23. "Public Transit". Town of Quispamsis.
24. (July 2025). "Community highlights for Quispamsis". [[Statistics Canada]].