How Post-Secondary Education Works in New Brunswick: Institutions, Degrees and Credentials

Two systems, one provincial department

New Brunswick runs post-secondary education through the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL) . PETL sets policy and funding for both halves of the system: the universities that grant bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, and the community colleges that grant diplomas and certificates.

The two halves run on different tracks. Universities set their own admission requirements and curriculum, subject to review by a regional quality body. Colleges follow one provincial framework and report directly to PETL.

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, and its post-secondary system reflects that split down the middle. UNB, St. Thomas, Mount Allison and NBCC teach in English. Université de Moncton and CCNB teach the same range of degrees, diplomas and certificates in French. A student who grew up in an immersion or French-language school in New Brunswick can complete an entire credential, from Grade 12 through a graduate degree, without switching language of instruction.

The five degree-granting universities

New Brunswick has five universities that grant degrees. Each sets its own admission requirements and program list.

• University of New Brunswick (UNB), the largest, with campuses in Fredericton and Saint John.

• St. Thomas University, in Fredericton, focused on liberal arts undergraduate degrees.

• Mount Allison University, in Sackville, a small undergraduate-focused university.

• Université de Moncton, the province's French-language university, with campuses in Moncton, Edmundston and Shippagan.

• Crandall University, a private Christian university in Moncton.

UNB and St. Thomas share a campus in Fredericton and let students cross-register for courses at the other school. Université de Moncton runs the only full French-language degree slate in the province, outside a handful of bilingual courses elsewhere.

The college system: NBCC and CCNB

New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) teaches in English across six campuses: Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John, Miramichi, St. Andrews and Woodstock. Its French-language counterpart, Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB), teaches the same range of technical and career programs in French at campuses in the north and east of the province.

Both colleges grant certificates (under one year), diplomas (one to three years), and run apprenticeship training and part-time courses alongside full-time programs. College programs run shorter and more career-focused than a university degree, built around a specific occupation such as nursing, welding, business administration or early childhood education.

Private career colleges sit outside this list

New Brunswick also licenses private career colleges separately from NBCC and CCNB, covering shorter vocational training in fields like cosmetology, culinary arts or IT support. These operate under their own provincial licensing rules rather than the public college framework, and their credentials do not carry the same transfer weight as an NBCC or CCNB diploma. Confirm a private college's licence status with PETL directly before enrolling.

Who checks program quality

New Brunswick does not run a degree-approval office of its own. It shares one with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island: the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC) . MPHEC reviews and approves new degree programs before a university in any of the three provinces can offer them, and collects enrolment and finance data across the region.

Colleges answer to PETL directly rather than to MPHEC, since diplomas and certificates fall outside MPHEC's degree-only mandate.

Degrees versus diplomas

A bachelor's degree at a New Brunswick university takes three to four years, with an honours year available in many programs. Master's and doctoral programs run at UNB, Mount Allison and Université de Moncton in select fields.

A college diploma at NBCC or CCNB runs one to three years and targets direct entry into a specific job. A certificate runs under a year and covers a narrower skill set. Neither counts as a degree, though some diploma holders transfer credits into a bachelor's program through agreements between individual colleges and universities.

The academic calendar

Universities and colleges both run a fall term from September to December and a winter term from January to April. Several institutions add an optional spring or summer term from May to August, used for shorter courses, co-op placements or catching up on credits.

Moving between institutions

Transfer agreements exist between individual NBCC or CCNB programs and specific university departments, letting a diploma holder apply some college credits toward a related bachelor's degree. These agreements vary by program and change over time. Confirm the current arrangement directly with the receiving university's admissions office before you plan a transfer around it.

How a New Brunswick credential gets recognized

Canada does not run one national accreditation system, so a degree, diploma or certificate from a New Brunswick institution carries the same standing as an equivalent credential from any other province. If you plan to have your credential assessed by a foreign university, an immigration authority or a professional regulator later, expect the assessor to ask which institution issued it and whether that institution held recognized degree-granting or college status at the time you attended. Any of the five universities, NBCC or CCNB can confirm that status directly if an assessor asks.