Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. Take a look below for 30 fun and awesome facts about Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada.

1. During the early colonial period, the area was a camping and meeting place of the Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) Nation during seasonal migrations.

2. From the mid to late eighteenth century, one of the largest Maliseet villages had been established at Madawaska and had become a refuge site for other Wabanaki peoples.

3. The Maliseet village was originally located near the falls at the confluence of the Madawaska and Saint John Rivers. Currently, the City of Edmundston surrounds a federal Indian Reserve (St. Basile 10/Madawaska Maliseet First Nation).

4. Originally named Petit-Sault (Little Falls) in reference to the waterfalls located where the Madawaska River merges into the Saint John River, the settlement was renamed Edmundston in 1851 after Sir Edmund Walker Head, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick from 1848 to 1854 and Governor-General of Canada from 1854 to 1861.

5. Originally a small logging settlement, Edmundston’s growth is mostly attributed to the city’s strategic location.

6. In 1998, Edmundston, Saint-Basile, Saint-Jacques and Verret merged to form the City of Edmundston.

7. The nearby Village of St-Hilaire was supposed to amalgamate as well, but the provincial government changed its mind as it would make the area of the new city too large.

8. Edmundston is located at the edge of the New Brunswick “panhandle,” nestled in the northeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains at the junction of the Saint John and Madawaska Rivers in the northwestern part of the province.

9. Edmundston is strategically situated only a few kilometres from the border with Quebec and on the border with the United States, opposite the town of Madawaska, Maine, to which it is connected by the Edmundston–Madawaska Bridge.

10. Edmundston had a population of 16,643 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 4.2% from the 2001 census count (the first post-merger).

11. The median household income in 2005 for Edmundston was $42,551, which is below the New Brunswick provincial average of $45,194.

12. The city is 95 per cent francophone, the highest such proportion of all cities in the province.

13. Edmundston is the third-largest predominantly francophone city in North America outside of Quebec and the Caribbean, behind Clarence-Rockland, Ontario, which has a population exceeding 20,000 and is 68 per cent francophone, and Dieppe, which has a population of 18,565 (2006 Census) and is roughly 80 percent francophone.

14. Outside of Quebec, the cities of Ottawa (122,665), Sudbury (45,420), Toronto (34,900), Winnipeg (26,855), Moncton (20,425), Timmins (17,390) and Edmonton (15,715) have greater total numbers of francophones, but they are a minority group in those cities.

15. Unlike most other francophones living in the Maritimes, most people living in the Edmundston area do not consider themselves Acadians other than for statistical purposes.

16. Most of them descend from French-Canadians who originally came from Lower Canada (now Quebec) along with a few Irish immigrants to settle the area in the century between 1820 and 1920, and absorbed the small group of Acadians who had arrived earlier. Nor do they consider themselves Québécois despite their heritage, mainly due to the politicization of Quebec-specific issues they do not feel concerned with.

17. Residents speak with a distinctive local accent, colloquially called “l’accent brayon”.

18. Christianity is the dominant religion of the city’s inhabitants, with most residents being Roman Catholics. Moreover, Edmundston gives its name to the episcopal see of the region.

19. Edmundston covers four Catholic parishes. Protestant denominations established in city include the Anglican Church of Canada, the United Church of Canada, the United Pentecostal Church International and a French Christian Church called Église de l’Espoir d’Edmundston.

20. A small number of Muslims live in Edmundston and the surrounding area, practicing in their own community centre.

21. Edmundston experiences a Humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

22. The highest temperature ever recorded in Edmundston was 37.2 °C (99 °F) on 3 June 1919.

23. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −43.6 °C (−46.5 °F) on 16 January 2009.

24. Edmundston is a rural town whose economy centres on the Saint John River paper industry. The river historically provided water power for the mills and was the route of log drives bringing pulpwood from upstream forests. The river still provides the water supply for paper manufacture, but environmental concerns encourage pulpwood delivery by highway and rail.

25. An illuminated sign and plastics manufacture owned by Pattison Sign is also important to the city’s economy. IPL, a company that manufactures plastic eating utensils, has a facility in Edmundston.

26. The city is the site of the regional hospital for the area. There is a campus of the French language University of Moncton in Edmundston. The New Brunswick Community college system has a campus in Edmundston.

27. Every June, Edmundston plays host to the Festival Jazz et Blues d’Edmundston (the Edmundston Jazz and Blues Festival).

28. Every year in August, there is a large cultural festival in Edmundston called the Foire Brayonne. The festival is one of the biggest French themed festivals held in Canada east of the province of Quebec.

29. The three manual Casavant neo-baroque mechanical action pipe organ of the Church of Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs, situated in a hall with a superb live acoustic, is one of the finest pipe organs in Canada.

30. Edmundston has a downhill skiing facility in the city at Mont Farlagne. This facility has 3 lifts, a t-bar, a double chair, and a quad chair. It has 14 trails and an elevation of 690 feet. Snowmaking is available. Five trails are lit for night skiing.