Saint John is experiencing diversification and strong economic growth within multiple sectors. Each priority sector has a well-defined growth strategy and strong public-private sector community support teams.
The region’s four key growth sectors are:
The next decade has significant growth potential with $3 billion in new energy projects underway, over $100 Million in planned new Uptown waterfront development projects, the launch of the lower St. John River Trails Network, continuing expansion of the region’s 75 plus information and communication technology companies, and the planned launch of a new Medical Education program for 2010.
Information and Communication Technology
Saint John, New Brunswick has emerged as a world-class location for customer service, technical support, remote development, shared service and back office information and communication technology (ICT) operations. There is a rapidly growing cluster of over 50 diverse Information Technology (IT) companies specializing in e-commerce, software development, remote network management, technical support, multi-media and state-of-the-art Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) applications. As one of North America’s leading high end contact centre and back office locations, Saint John employs over 6,000 people in 25 centres supporting diverse clients around the world.
 The last five years have been a period of exceptional economic growth in Saint John with the new arrival or expansion of major multinationals such as CenterBeam, Exigen, Xerox, IBM, Alcatel, Bell Aliant, Wyndham Worldwide, Unilever, ExxonMobil, Iron Mountain, and TD Insurance. This expansion was driven primarily by the region’s dynamic, innovative and increasingly global ICT sector and the region’s skilled and qualified workforce.
To support the region’s growing IT sector, propelsj was initiated by industry to support new business starts and expansions through its Launch32 initiative and an innovative virtual technology incubator called Catalict.
Links
Propelsj
ICT Organization
www.propelsj.com
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Energy and Advanced Manufacturing
Saint John is known as the Atlantica energy production and distribution hub for good reason:
- 50% of New Brunswick’s electrical generation capacity is located in the Saint John region;
- Saint John has Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant, Point Lepreau;
- The region is home to Canada’s largest and most modern oil refinery – Irving Oil - a North American leader in the production of environmentally friendly fuels;
- Saint John has access to competitive natural gas for residential and commercial use;
- The city has its own municipal utility, Saint John Energy;
- Atlantic Canada’s largest concentration of industrial activity and energy users;
- Saint John is home to an ice free deep water port and supertanker terminal;
- One of North America’s most stable and reliable energy distribution grids; and
- Over 3 billion dollars of major energy projects are underway including the Canaport LNG Terminal, the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant and the construction of the 145 km natural gas Brunswick Pipeline.
The Saint John Energy Hub, in combination with close proximity to US export markets, supports a growing metal fabrication, plastics, engineering and advanced manufacturing clusters.
 To coordinate activities and ensure the region takes full advantage of opportunities, Saint John is home to the Atlantica Centre for Energy, Efficiency NB, the New Brunswick Department of Energy and Canada’s energy port - the Port of Saint John.
At present, the Canaport LNG terminal and the Brunswick Pipeline projects are nearing completion. The 1.4 billion dollar Point Lepreau nuclear power plant refurbishment is underway and there are further plans to continue the significant growth of the energy sector. These plans include a second oil refinery as well as a second nuclear reactor at the Point Lepreau Generating Station and an LNG Natural Gas Power Plant. The arrival of these would solidify an economic boom for Saint John. New Brunswick as a whole is positioning itself to become an energy hub. Wind and Tidal energy are forms of renewable energy that are being explored and experimented with at the moment. Already, a good portion of New England’s energy originates from New Brunswick and new distribution infrastructure such as a recently expanded and upgraded transmission line to Maine and two natural gas pipelines ensure continued easy access to this market.
Links
The Saint John Industrial Parks Limited
Updated information on the 3 Industrial Parks in Saint John
www.saintjohnindustrial.ca
Point Lepreau
Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant
www.nuclear.nbpower.com
Irving Oil
North American leader in the production of environmentally friendly fuels
www.irvingoil.com
Saint John Energy
www.sjenergy.com
Canaport LNG Terminal
www.canaportlng.com
Brunswick Pipeline
www.brunswickpipeline.com
Atlantica Centre for Energy
www.atlanticaenergy.com
Efficiency NB
www.efficiencynb.ca
NB Dept. of Energy
www.gnb.ca
The Saint John Port Authority
www.sjport.com
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Health Sciences
 Saint John is the Atlantic Canadian centre of excellence for the delivery of health care services. Home to the Saint John Regional Hospital, an accredited medical teaching facility with affiliations to the Dalhousie University and Memorial University Medical Schools, the Saint John health sciences group (Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation, University New Brunswick Saint John and the New Brunswick Community College Saint John) serves as a catalyst for public - private sector health science research, development and technology commercialization projects.
The region is also home to an emerging cluster of e-health research, development and innovation activities, and is a national leader and pioneer in the creation, launch and delivery of new health education programs. The Saint John health sciences cluster also supports a provincial centre of excellence for clinical trial activity. Planning is underway for the launch of a Provincial Anglophone medical training program to be led by AHSC and UNB Saint John, and in partnership with Dalhousie University. The first class is set to officially start in 2010.
Links
Saint John Regional Hospital
Hospital
www.ahsc.health.nb.ca
University New Brunswick Saint John
Local University
www.unb.ca/campuses/saintjohn
New Brunswick Community College Saint John
Community College
www.nbcc.nb.ca/campuses/saint_john/
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Tourism
 From historic urban streetscapes to our spectacular waterways, Saint John is the new frontier for tourism investment and new product development in New Brunswick! The city itself offers endless attractions, and is the starting point for exploring the Bay of Fundy, 'One of the Marine Wonders of the World', the impressive Fundy Trail and the scenic St. John River Valley.
Saint John has a diversified and expanding tourism sector that generates over $240 million in annual expenditures. As New Brunswick’s centre for conventions, events and sporting facilities, Saint John has the Province’s only full service Trade and Convention facility supported by an all-weather network of uptown climate-controlled indoor pedways and a nationally-recognized heritage district - Trinity Royal.
Regional communities have made a unified commitment to promote economic development while preserving the region’s heritage and investing in arts and culture like the historic Imperial Theatre, Canada’s most beautifully restored performing arts centre; and Harbour Station, New Brunswick’s premier multi-purpose, special event and concert facility. Recent investments by private sector on historic King Street, a new cruise ship terminal and award winning Harbour Passage are only a few examples of Uptown revitalization. The Saint John Waterfront Development Partnership is currently working on many development initiatives.
With a record 82 cruise ships in 2008 the Saint John tourism industry continues to grow. 182,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to walk the streets Saint John and area in 2008. It is estimated that the cruise ship industry generated $20 million in revenue for Saint John in 2007. That number is expected to double for 2008. The city is also currently constructing a cruise terminal to give further incentive for cruises to visit the city.
Saint John recorded the highest increase in annual hotel occupancy rates of any City east of Ontario in 2006 and there are five new hotels planned, currently under construction or just opened in the Saint John region for a total of 380 new rooms (a 25% increase in hotel capacity for the region).
Links
Tourism Saint John
www.tourismsaintjohn.com
Saint John Waterfront Development Partnership
www.sjwaterfront.com
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