Caraquet is a geographic parish in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. For governance purposes, the parish is divided between the towns of Caraquet, Hautes-Terres, Rivière-du-Nord, and Shippagan. All municipalities are members of the Acadian Peninsula Regional Service Commission (APRSC).

Origin of name

Historian William F. Ganong described the origin of the name as uncertain, the Mi'kmaq Caluget possibly being their pronunciation of a French name for the area.

History

Caraquet was erected in 1831 from Saumarez Parish; it originally included Shippegan Parish and Paquetville Parish. In 1851 Shippegan was erected as its own parish. In 1897 Paquetville was erected as its own parish.

Boundaries

Caraquet Parish is bounded:

Former Governance

The northern mainland of the parish was divided (before 2023) into three municipalities; from east to west, these are the village of Bas-Caraquet, the town of Caraquet, and the eastern part of the village of Bertrand. The remainder of the parish comprised four LSDs and part of a fifth. These LSDs were:

Communities

Communities at least partly within the parish. bold indicates an incorporated municipality

Bodies of water

Bodies of water at least partly within the parish.

Islands

Islands at least partly within the parish.

Other notable places

Parks, historic sites, and other noteworthy places at least partly within the parish.

Demographics

Parish population total does not include incorporated municipalities as they existed in 2021. Revised census figures based on the 2023 local governance reforms have not been released.

Population

Language