The Canadian province of New Brunswick has 15 counties, originating in the British tradition of local courts for civil and judicial administration that were officiated by the colony's appointed magistrates.

They figure prominently in residents' sense of place and continue as significant threads in the Province of New Brunswick's cultural fabric (i.e., most citizens always know which county they are in).

The partitioning of Nova Scotia at the close of the American Revolutionary War was discreetly attributed by the British to the distance between the St. John river communities and the administrative centre at Halifax.

[9] The province was divided into eight counties by decree of Governor Carleton: Charlotte, Kings, Northumberland, Queens, Saint John, Sunbury, Westmorland and York.

In January 1786, the first session of the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly was held in Saint John, at which the MLA’s passed An Act for the better ascertaining and confirming the Boundaries of Several Counties within this Province, and for subdividing them into Towns or Parishes.