Acadie—Bathurst

Acadie—Bathurst covers the northeastern corner of New Brunswick, wrapping around Chaleur Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the city of Bathurst through the fishing villages and coastal parishes of the Acadian Peninsula. The riding encompasses all of Gloucester County and takes in communities including Caraquet, Shippagan, Lamèque, Tracadie, and Miscou Island, as well as the rural interior parishes stretching inland from Nepisiguit Bay. More than 82 percent of the riding's approximately 77,600 residents speak French as their mother tongue, making it one of the most francophone federal ridings outside Quebec. It is also one of the oldest demographically, with a median age above 51.

Candidates

Serge Cormier (Liberal) is the incumbent MP, first elected in 2015. Raised in Maisonnette, New Brunswick, the son of an inshore fisherman, Cormier financed his business administration studies by purchasing a small company. Before entering federal politics, he served as chief of staff to multiple New Brunswick government ministries, including tourism and the Francophonie. In Ottawa, he held parliamentary secretary roles for Fisheries, Immigration, and National Defence.

James Brown (Conservative) is a high school teacher with the Anglophone School District North who previously worked as a health sciences college instructor in Ontario before relocating to the Bathurst area. A first-time federal candidate, Brown entered the 2025 race as a father and community-minded educator.

Ty Boulay (NDP) relocated to northern New Brunswick several years ago, reconnecting with Acadian family roots—his father and grandparents were born in the Bathurst area. He previously ran for the NDP in the Belle-Baie-Belledune riding during New Brunswick’s 2024 provincial election.

Randi Rachelle Raynard (People’s Party) ran on a platform emphasizing individual freedoms and community fairness.

About the Riding

The commercial fishery is the economic backbone of Acadie—Bathurst. Crab, lobster, shrimp, and herring landings from the waters off the Acadian Peninsula generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually and support a network of processing plants that are the largest private-sector employers in many communities. Historically, the Bathurst area was a base-metals mining hub, with the province’s largest deposits of lead, zinc, and copper found nearby, but successive mine closures over the past two decades have largely eliminated that sector.

The riding has long contended with structural economic challenges. Seasonal employment in fishing, forestry, and tourism makes employment-insurance policy a perennial concern. Youth out-migration to western Canada and urban centres has driven the median age steadily upward, straining health-care services. The Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst has grappled with physician shortages and emergency-room overcrowding for years.

In 2025, the threat of US tariffs cast a shadow over the riding’s export-dependent seafood sector. Declining herring stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence added environmental uncertainty to the mix, while the cost of living—home heating in particular—remained a pressing concern for households with median incomes well below the national average.