Town of Shippagan

On behalf of myself and the Municipal Council, it is a great pleasure to wish you a very warm welcome to the Municipality of Shippagan’s Internet site. We would like to believe that our site will encourage you to come see for yourself everything our beautiful and charming town has to offer.

Located on the northeastern point of the Acadian Peninsula, in northeastern New Brunswick, the Town of Shippagan, with its 2,920 residents, is known as the commercial fishing capital of New Brunswick. We invite you to come discover our port facilities, our large fishing fleet, and the Maritime Service Centre for fish harvesters where the boats are docked for storage or drydocking. You can also fill up on excellent fish and seafood in the town’s restaurants.

To get to the islands of Lamèque and Miscou, you have to go through Shippagan in order to access the drawbridge, the only one of its kind in New Brunswick and therefore, an attraction in itself.

In addition to being the commercial fishing capital, Shippagan is also a university town because it is home to one of the three campuses of l’Université de Moncton, as well as the head office of the Acadian Peninsula Campus of the New Brunswick Community College. We also house research institutes on peat and the sea, which are part of the Institut de recherche sur les zones côtières (coastal zones research institute). As you may have noticed, education and research are very important to our town.

In terms of tourism, not far from the port facilities we have the Aquarium and Marine Centre, as well as the Marina and its restaurant (Restaurant le Phare). The Aquarium provides habitat for all of the marine species found in Chaleurs Bay, among them the famous blue lobster and seals. The seaside hiking trail is only about 350 meters from the Aquarium. This beautiful boardwalk follows the shoreline for almost 2 km. As you stroll along it, you will see the boats heading out to sea, as well as several species of shore and aquatic birds.

Those who prefer the outdoors are invited to our municipal camping ground, located in Upper Shippagan. The campground has 161 campsites, a beach surrounded by a boardwalk and a restaurant. You’ll love it!

Shippagan is also host to a number of festivals and carnivals. In June, windsurfing enthusiasts take off with Windfest. Our area is also a paradise for sailboarders. Every year, in the second week of July, you can experience the famous Provincial Fisheries and Aquaculture Festival: a wave of fun in a sea of activities! In February, we also have the Ice Carnival, which allows local people and visitors to enjoy all the fun winter has to offer.

And so, we invite you to come meet us and experience for yourself the Acadian hospitality of Shippagan.

On the northeastern tip of New Brunswick proudly lies the TOWN OF SHIPPAGAN, rich both in history and hopes for the future. Origin of the word ¨Shippagan¨, the word itself, originally written Chipagan is derived from the Micmac ¨Sepaguncheech¨which means passage-way for ducks. In spite of its Indian name, Shippagan never had a permanent Indian settlement. Nevertheless, the Micmacs used to establish summer camps inside the gully on a point called Pointe-Sauvage or Indian Point.

Due to its proximity to Miscou and its seventeen century establishments, Shippagan was long ago visited by the white man, who made mention of it in many early maps and writings. But its first permanent settlers around 1790 were the Duguay brothers, François and Jacquot, their brother-in-law Jean Mallet, all Normans from Paspebiac, followed closely by the first Acadian settler Jean-Baptiste Robichaud. During the following years came other settlers, by the name of Goupil, Hebert, Chiasson, DeGrâce, Haché, Savoie, Blanchard, Roussel, Delagarde, Larocque, Lanteigne, Larocque, Bulger, Paquet forming the nucleus of the population.

During the first half of the nineteen century, Shippagan harbour served as an outlet for overseas timber and lumber shipping while the surrounding shores served as shipbuilding ground. Many companies, such as Witzell and Topham, the famous Cunards, the Hardings, the Woolers, has a flourishingtimber and lumber export trade.

Like everywhere else in the last century, the timber industry dwindled in this area, but the fishing industry has grown to such proportions that Shippagan has become the most important fishing center in the province of New Brunswick. Every day of the fishing season, shore and deep-sea fishermen bring in hundreds of tons of fish: herring, lobster, scallop, crab, immediately taken up by the local fish processing plants. These modern equipped fish processing plants supply the Canadian, Asian and American market with millions of pounds of first class fresh, frozen and canned fish. No wonder that Shippagan draws evergrowing crowds to its annual Fisheries and Aquaculture Festival

Since the forties however, the fishing industry has had a serious but welcome rival. Till then, the vast plains of Shippagan had been considered a serious handicap to the growth of the community. People could not foresee that these plains would one day be the basis of a flourishing peat moss industry. Since 1942, various companies such as Fafard, Western, Atlantic and others have successfully processed and marketed peat moss from thousands of acres in Shippagan and surrounding area, giving employment to hundreds of workers.

Such industrial development necessarily led to commercial expansion in order to accommodate the growing population. School services had to be expanded, modern school complex imparts academic and technical training for all high school students in the area. For those who wish to further their studies the University of Moncton, Shippagan Campus is located in Shippagan
The Université de Moncton is one of the flagships of French-language education in New Brunswick, one of Canada's three Maritime provinces. Its roots go back to 1864, the year that the first Acadian college was founded. Proud heir to this tradition, the Université de Moncton is today the largest Canadian French-language university outside of Quebec. Its three campuses in Moncton, Edmundston and Shippagan each year welcome 6,000 students, 4% of whom are from outside Canada.

The steady growth of the community has led to its incorporation as a village in 1947. In 1958, it became the second town in Gloucester County. Under the dynamic leadership of various village and town councils, essential public services were organized; street lighting, community planning, fire brigade, town police, arena, library, camping, town hall, water and sewer services. Proud of their accomplishment and confident in a promising future, the people of Shippagan greet all visitors with a warm and cordial welcome.

Yellow star on blue background: The color of Acadian population of Shippagan and northeastern New Brunswick.

Silver grey rectangular: Bales of peat moss, representing the peat moss industry.

Shippagan draw bridge Only one in operation in New Brunswick	Camping Shippagan

Fisheries and aquaculture festival	Maritime service centre