City Government & You

It takes a community to make a city, engaged residents help create a vibrant city for all. Whether you're new to Fredericton or just starting to explore civic life, all perspectives are welcome. City government touches the lives of people every day and there are many ways to stay informed and be involved. This page outlines different ways for residents to help shape their city:

How Municipal Government Works:

The City of Fredericton is governed by a Mayor and 12 ward councillors. Local elections are on fixed 4-year cycles and are not subject to snap elections. In Fredericton, Councillors and the Mayor do not run under the banner of any political party, rather they represent neighbourhoods or in the case of the Mayor the city at large. To learn more about Mayor & Council click here.

How City government fits in with provincial and federal governments:

Canada has three orders of government, federal, provincial and municipal, at a high level the responsibilities of each government are as follows:

Federal:
- Immigration
- Canada Pension Plan
- Employment Insurance Benefits
- Old Age Security
- Criminal Law
- Income Taxes
- Regulations affecting industries that are national or international
Provincial:
- Education
- Health & Medicine
- Labour Standards
- Family Law
- Social Services
- Housing
- Property Tax Assessment and Collection
- Building and Maintaining Provincially owned roads and highways
Municipal:
- Water and Sewer
- Recreation (parks, arenas, pools, courts and programming)
- Street Construction and Maintenance on City owned roads (plowing, filling potholes, traffic calming, infrastructure renewal etc.)
- Fire and Police Protection
- Land Use Planning & Zoning (Zoning is the method of determining what types of buildings and developments are in what areas.)
- Building Inspections
- Garbage and Waste Removal
- Public Transit

How to stay informed:

Standing committee and regular city council meetings are public and livestreamed on the City website or anyone can attend in person. Agendas and meeting packages are available in advance of the meetings. To learn more about meeting times and agendas click here.
Council meetings are scheduled for the second and fourth Monday of each month starting at 7:30pm. Council meetings are where City Council makes formal decisions and approvals.
Standing committees are permanent meetings that occur at lunch hour on Thursdays and are a place for informal discussions and updates.

How to be involved:

The City has numerous advisory committees that report to standing committees. The committees are made up of local residents chosen through a public recruitment process. Anyone who lives in Fredericton can apply to serve on an advisory committee. To learn more about advisory committees click here.
The City of Fredericton does regular public engagement on specific projects via our engagement website Engage Fredericton. Public engagement sessions occur on a wide range of topics including: traffic calming initiatives, Recreation and Leisure Master Plan and the Urban Forestry Strategy. To learn more about current, upcoming and past engagement projects click here.
If you any ideas or feedback for the City you can reach out to your City Councillor or the Mayor. To learn more about how to contact City Council click here.
Sign up to volunteer with a local organization. To learn more about volunteer opportunities click here.

Learning Opportunities:

Informative Documents:

Election Information:

Local government elections occur every 4 years, with the exception on the past 2 terms which were extended to 5 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then the provincially mandated local governance reform. The next municipal election will take place on May 11th, 2026. To learn more visit Elections NB’s website. More information will be posted on the City website as the date gets closer.
To run in local government elections, you must meet the following criteria:
- 18 years of age on or before election day;
- a Canadian citizen;
- a resident of the local government or rural district for at least 6 months before election day; and
- in a local government or rural district that is divided into wards for election purposes, a person is not qualified to be nominated as a candidate for Councillor for a ward unless they are a resident of that ward when nominated.
- Learn more on the Elections NB’s website.