Economic Snapshot
(Updated: March, 2026)
by Lana Asaff, Senior Economist at the Atlantic Economic Council
People
Population, Workforce, and Education
The Saint John Region's population grew 1.1% in 2025, reaching more than 144,500 people - a record high. The median age of the region was unchanged at 43.2 years old. The 60-64 age group accounted for the largest share of the population at 7.5%.
Immigration was the main driver of growth; however, the number of new immigrants to the region was down almost 19% annually. Net interprovincial migration and temporary residents marginally added to the population, with contributions that were smaller than in 2024.
Employment in Saint John declined by 1.2%, or about 800 positions, year over year in December 2025. A loss of part-time positions offset a small gain in full-time jobs. As a result, the unemployment rate edged up from 6.2% to 6.4%. The region's unemployment rate remained below the provincial rate. Job vacancies reached over 2,300 in 2025 Q4, up 29% from a year earlier.
Enrolment at the University of New Brunswick Saint John was up 2.6% in 2025. An increase in domestic student enrolment made up for a drop in international students. Nearly a quarter of the region's population had a Bachelor's degree or above as their highest level of education in 2025.
Real Estate
Housing starts fell about 13% in 2025 compared to 2024. Even with this decrease, the 666 starts last year were the fourth-highest level on record. Saint John's average single-family home price declined 3.3% year over year last December to $345,000. The city's average price was lower than in other Atlantic Canadian cities.
Average rent climbed 5.5% in 2025 to $1,199, the lowest rent among Atlantic cities. The rental vacancy rate declined from 3.9% in 2024 to 2.1% in 2025.
The region's office vacancy rate was over 25% in December 2025, largely unchanged from one year earlier. Total office square footage shrank 2.5% over the same period, while average asking rent rose by less than a dollar to $23.79 per square foot. Saint John continued to have the lowest gross office rent among New Brunswick cities.
Commerce
New Brunswick's real economic growth accelerated to 2.7% in 2024 after expanding 2% in 2023. The province's economy grew faster than Canada's for the first time in several years. Saint John accounted for over 19% of New Brunswick's nominal Gross Domestic Product in 2022, up 1.2 percentage points from 2021. The region's inflation rate was 3.1% in December 2025. This rate was 1.5 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
The number of active businesses in Saint John was relatively stable year over year in November 2025 at just under 3,000. A total of 123 businesses opened that month. Health care and social assistance, retail trade, and construction had the most businesses with employees last year.
Container cargo at Port Saint John posted strong growth in 2025. Volumes rose roughly 30% to more than 239,000 TEUs.
Tourism
Tourism activity in the Saint John Region strengthened last year. Air passenger traffic rose 2.5% to more than 185,000 travellers in 2025. Cruise passenger traffic exceeded 196,000, up over 20% from 2024.
Annual accommodation indicators improved in 2025. Hotel occupancy rose to 60% as demand for rooms grew while supply held steady. Hotel revenues were up 4%, while the average daily rate increased by a much smaller percentage. This indicates that growth was driven more by higher volumes than by higher prices.
