St. Stephen   St. Stephen is also located across the St. Croix River from Maine. St. Stephen is the busiest US/Canada border crossing in New Brunswick. Approximately 1.1 million passenger vehicles per year cross into Canada at the St. Stephen border, with a similar number crossing from Canada into the U.S. annually. About 110,000 trucks per year cross from Canada to the U.S. at the St. Stephen border crossing with about 2/3 of those returning to Canada through St. Stephen. Long plagued by waiting lines of traffic through the downtown, the new greatly enlarged border crossing (opening in 2009) will remove the lines of traffic from the downtown and make this crossing one of the most efficient in Canada. Moving the border traffic to the northern edge of the town will make access to St. Stephen’s downtown and the St. Croix riverfront easier and more inviting, offering new opportunities for businesses and residents. The primary drivers of the economy in St. Stephen are manufacturing, the retail sector and the services sector, both private and government. St. Stephen is the retail shopping centre of the Charlotte Coastal Region and has a number of the larger big box and chain retail outlets including Canadian Tire, Shopper’s Drug Mart and Kent Building Materials. St. Stephen offers all the retail you would expect in a small to mid-sized town. With two large modern supermarkets, one with a New Brunswick Liquor Corporation store attached, a number of restaurants, clothing and gift shops, plus the shopping opportunities just across the border in Calais, Maine, St. Stephen residents enjoy most of the shopping opportunities of a larger centre. St. Stephen is also the business centre of the Charlotte Coastal Region boasting three banks, as well as choices in legal and insurance services. The town has two elementary schools both serving from kindergarten to grade 5; Milltown Elementary School with 210 students and St. Stephen Elementary School with 585 students. The St. Stephen Middle School serves 513 students in grades 6 to 8. St. Stephen High School has 640 students in grades 9 to 12. All schools in the community are proactive in promoting extracurricular programs and activities. St. Stephen is also home to a small university which provides academic and residential facilities for up to 80 students. The university offers a Bachelor of Arts Degree with several areas of concentration available in the liberal arts. Graduate level programs leading to the Degree of Bachelor of Ministry and Master of Ministry are also offered. The Charlotte County Hospital is located in St. Stephen. A 44-bed acute care hospital, the Charlotte County Hospital serves the residents of the Charlotte Coastal Region. The hospital provides 24-hour emergency care, concentrated care and ambulatory care. The hospital is staffed by 20 medical staff members including general practitioners, surgeons, radiologists, dentists and specialists. These medical staff are supported by 25 medical specialists from outside the community who provide clinics and consultation services on a regular basis. St. Stephen also has a number of nursing homes located in the community. There are 13 churches in St. Stephen offering services catering to numerous popular religions found in the area. St. Stephen has a wide range of housing options from modest to high-end. Housing prices are reasonable. Various examples of early architecture are still found in St. Stephen. From a recreational perspective, St. Stephen offers families an arena, an outdoor community pool, a public library, the Chocolate Museum and the Charlotte County Museum. Sports fields, parks, playgrounds, hiking trails and playing fields offer residents a lot of outdoor activities year round. St. Stephen has an 18-hole golf course, and the community also has 15 service clubs and/or lodges. The town offers residents both municipal water and sewerage systems. The St. Stephen Fire Department has six full-time fire fighters and 24 volunteers. Policing is provided by the RCMP, which maintains a post in the town. St. Stephen has a small municipal airport with a 3,000-foot by 75-foot runway. The airport is used by the RCMP, Air Ambulance, Forest Protection and the Coast Guard Search and Rescue. Several charter services, the St. Croix Valley Flying Club, tourists and private pilots also use the runway. St. Stephen offers a dynamic small town with friendly people, traditional values, safe neighborhoods and a good level of services for all. For more information visit www.town.ststephen.nb.ca. |
