[MTL Lucas]

I agree with the content of the exchange thus far - Saint John suffered huge setback in 96 to 01 period with the loss of thousands of people and families from the closure of Saint John Shipbuilding (I myself remember several people in my class leaving as their families left for Ontario and BC).

Moncton is growing and I am not surprised that its metro is larger - but we have to keep in mind that Moncton and Saint John are set up very differently. Moncton follows the metropolitan model with density at the core - Saint John is more of connurbation with a definite core but with more dispered population and separate nodes of density (Grand Bay - Westfield, Saint George, Quispamsis/Rothesay, Saint Martin's, Hampton, etc.,).

As we discussed on the first page of this thread, Enterpise Saint John measured Saint John's commuter basin as 175,000 people in 2005 which makes sense. Moncton has a bigger CMA but I am sure Saint John has a larger commuter basin and client population.

I think with all the announced projects Saint John's commuter basin will grow faster than any other in the province and that further efforts at densification and urban development in the core might allow Saint John's CMA to again surpass Moncton's. The next census will be more telling - Saint John is in an upswing and so is Moncton, so we will be able to compare what they both acheive with momentum.