Grow the City. Serve the City. Be the Community of choice.

The City of Saint John has been providing front facing and support services to residents and businesses for more than two centuries. The current organization structure consists of six service areas, working together to plan and coordinate effective and efficient service delivery.

Growth and Community Services
Providing guidance, direction, and support for development by incorporating Council and community objectives for strategic growth. Initiatives that enhance the quality of life through housing, business investment, heritage and leisure to create a city where people want to live, work and invest.

Service delivery includes: One Stop Development Shop; building inspections; permitting; infrastructure development; community standards and compliance; heritage conservation, planning, growth and community service; arts and culture; and the Saint John City Market.

Transportation and Public Works
Supporting the community vision of a green, accessible city that offers opportunities for physical activity, and ease of transportation including public, active and roads.

Service delivery includes: leisure facilities such as parks and public spaces; roads and sidewalks; parking; solid waste; fleet; urban storm water; and, traffic. Saint John Transit delivers services through a commission. 

Strategic Services
By providing strategic insight, guidance, and expertise, this group enables the City to deliver quality public services in an innovative and sustainable way.

Service delivery includes: information technology; corporate performance; communications; government relations; insurance and claims; customer service, finance; and, procurement.

Corporate Services
Corporate Services is the point of contact between the city administration and Common Council. Ensuring the organization is meeting its required obligations and compliance through general counsel, human resources and the City Clerk.

Service delivery includes: City Clerk; human resources; general counsel; real estate; contract administration; and, records and information management.

Public Safety
Public safety protects citizens, property and the environment with a focus on creating safe neighbourhoods, essential to overall quality of life.

Service delivery includes: fire prevention; fire suppression; HAZMAT; and, Saint John Emergency Management Organization. The Saint John Police Force delivers services through a commission.

Utilities and Public Infrastructure
This area is responsible for all facilities, systems, and structures that are owned and operated by the municipality, in this case The City of Saint John. The Saint John Water Utility is committed to providing safe, clean drinking water; protecting the environment through wastewater management; and supporting industry through supply of industrial water.

Service delivery includes: Saint John Water Utility; Public infrastructure and support services such as engineering; climate change programs; GIS; facilities management and asset management. Saint John Energy is governed through a commission.

A classic, historic, and inviting urban park, King's Square is located in uptown Saint John at the head of King Street and bounded by Sydney, Charlotte, King's Square North, and King's Square South Streets. A salute to the Loyalist heritage of the city's founders, its pathways were designed in the shape of the British Union flag. The square is home to several monuments and plaques paying homage to individuals who helped shape the City’s heritage. Many of the tall trees that stand in the Square today were planted for the 1883 Centennial Celebrations of the landing of the Loyalists in Saint John. 

In 1909, the City Coronet Band donated the unique two-storey bandstand, located in the Square's centre, as a tribute to King Edward VII.

The Municipal Plan was the result of a two-year process of planning, research, and extensive community engagement.  Thousands of Saint Johners, championed by a thirteen member Citizen Committee of Council which included ten citizens, a member of the City’s Planning Advisory Committee and two members of Common Council helped to shape the plan.

PlanSJ reflects the shared collective vision of our citizens to grow the City smarter, by reinvesting in the Saint John’s urban core neighbourhoods, promoting denser more complete suburban communities and protecting our traditional rural character and landscape. By leveraging existing municipal infrastructure the plan supports more efficient and cost effective development pattern and leverages the City’s unique natural and heritage assets to enrich our quality of life.

The plan also promotes promoting greater choices for moving around the City progressive environmental policies which protect natural areas and promote a more sustainable development pattern overall. 

The plan informs City decisions through a zoning bylaw, a legacy of neighbourhood planning and through ongoing monitoring and reporting on the progress of PlanSJ.

Read the plan.

What is the Central Peninsula Secondary Plan?

The Plan contains a set of policies and actions that will to guide growth and improve the Uptown, South End, and Waterloo Village neighbourhoods and key corridors such as Union Street and Crown Street over the next 30 years. The Central Peninsula Secondary Plan was developed with the tremendous support of the community and Neighbourhood Action team over a period of two years.

In January 2020, the Plan was adopted by Common Council in conjunction with amendments to the Municipal Plan, Zoning By-law, and Heritage Conservation Areas By-law.

To ensure that your commercial and residential construction, renovation or demolition projects are safe for their intended purpose, the Permitting and Inspection service staff review applications, issue building permits, and conduct inspections.  

Building and plumbing codes and related by-laws guide the permitting and inspection process.  Our goal is to ensure these standards are met; through education, mediation and, as necessary, through enforcement and prosecution.

Applications and submission packages for permits and licenses

• Accessory Building (Garage, Shed or Gazebo)
• Change of Use Development Permit
• Demolition
• Electrical Waiver
• Fences and Retaining Walls
• Flood Risk Area Development Permit
• Heritage Permits
• Industrial, Institutional Or Commercial Property
• Midrise Combustible Construction
• Minimum Property Standards Permit
• Plumbing Permit
• Residential Property
• Sign Installation
• Street and Sidewalk Related Permits
• Subdivision

Other Helpful Documents:

• General Application Form
• Building and Development Permit Process
• Research Request

The Saint John area was nurtured by its first inhabitants, the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet—long before its European discovery. 

On a voyage in 1604, Samuel-de-Champlain named the St. John River in honour of St. Jean the Baptiste. Following the American Revolution, 14,000 American British supporters arrived, and in 1783 settled at the mouth of the St. John River. In 1785 this “Loyalist city” was incorporated by Royal Charter, making it Canada’s first incorporated city.

Also referred to as "The Port City”, Saint John became a leading industrial centre in the nineteenth century, mostly due to a robust shipbuilding trade. The city quickly grew, with the largest influx of immigrants occurring during the Irish famine of the 1840s, adding "Canada’s most Irish City” to its list of names.

Since then, the City's harbour has continued to welcome people from across the globe and each group has left an imprint on Saint John through culture, architecture, and people.

The City of Saint John has won numerous awards as a place to live and for its operations.

The City of Saint John has a large collection of visual art and heritage pieces that have been purchased or donated to the City. This work can be seen within City Hall, as well as various locations throughout the City, including the Saint John Arts Centre, Market Square, and the Saint John Free Public Library. 

The art collection includes work by celebrated artists from Saint John including Miller Brittain, Fred Ross, Herzl Kashetsky, and many more. 

The City of Saint John currently has two Calls for Arts:

• Call for Indigenous Artists: Deadline to apply December 15th 2023
• 2023 Art Bank Program: Deadline to apply December 18th 2023

Please refer to Related Documents on this page for full details.

Harbour Passage is a series of interconnected walking and biking trails, lookouts, and heritage sites that connect the north and west sides of the City to uptown. The cranberry trails provide views of Saint John Harbour and its active port. Interpretive structures and panels along the way bring Saint John’s vibrant shipbuilding and waterfront history to life. Harbour Passage is ideal for walkers, runners, and bikers, and wheelchair users of all ages.

Discover urban energy. And outdoor rejuvenation.

Not every getaway offers everything you could dream of. But when you visit Saint John, you can dive into in every experience that makes vacations memorable and rewarding.

Saint John is a stunningly beautiful and historic city. Step back into the past—with every modern indulgence. When you explore our narrow and lovingly preserved uptown city streets, you’ll stumble upon charming boutiques, creative bistros, cozy cafés and cocktail bars, welcoming pubs, and locally-owned galleries. From your hotel or B&B, you’re likely just a short walk from the famously historic Saint John City Market, the delightful Market Square, the stunning Imperial Theatre, and the Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area. This is urban adventure at its most cosmopolitan.

Of course, you’ll also be in awe of our natural wonders. Saint John is the only city on the powerful Bay of Fundy, whose tides are the highest in the world. Where the St. John River meets the Bay, you can get a feel for that power—at the Reversing Falls, the tides of the Bay of Fundy actually force the water at the mouth of the river to reverse its flow. Explore the trails of Rockwood Park, the seaside in Irving Nature Park, and the charming urban parks that dot the City’s landscape.

And the best part? Saint John isn’t far. We’re an easy drive from anywhere in the Maritimes, and a short flight from Montreal, Toronto, and Boston. Getting here is easy. And easy is what vacations should be, right?

Ihtoli-maqahamok - The Gathering Space [ee-doe-lee MAH-qwah-HA-muck]

For many decades, the space just beyond the intersection of King and Water streets in Uptown Saint John has been used for community gatherings - live music, festivals, and celebrations of all kinds. Now, it is entering a new era of access and expansion.

It is a name that pays homage to the ancestors of the land on which it rests, and to the spirit of the space and the way it has been and will be used: as a place of community and gathering.

As part of the City's waterfront development, Ihtoli-maqahamok – The Gathering Space, is being reinvigorated and reimagined, with the addition of a community skating rink, indoor/outdoor patios, an expanded stage for concerts, film screenings, and other special events. It also includes space for craft and food vendors, and easy access to enjoy the waterfront.

The design elements of Ihtoli-magahamok – The Gathering Space are rooted in three foundations of Saint John: the people, the water, and the rocks. It will be a significant landmark and a place of togetherness. A destination, and a meeting place for locals and visitors to come together.

The City of Saint John would like to thank all those involved in naming and bringing this space to life. The naming process was a multi-phased community effort, with help from Saint John residents, the City’s Civic Commemoration Committee, Common Council, and First Nations’ leaders and Elders from the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick (WNNB).

The Committee acknowledges that this space is important to the Loyalist heritage in the region, which will be recognized through interpretive panels in the area and the meaning of the new name.