If you have been wanting to travel to visit the Maritime Provinces in Canada, know that the advent of toll roads is slowly spreading there, as one province becomes the latest to introduce the concept on its highways.
Toll Roads Slowly Spread in Canadian Maritime Provinces
The province is New Brunswick, which proposes that in its budget for fiscal year 2026-2027, it plans to “Introduce tolls on non-New Brunswick vehicles, with a toll booth near Aulac to be operational by 2028.”
Two other provinces already charge at least one toll: drivers are charged a minimum of $20.00 in Canadian dollars when driving motor vehicles across the Confederation Bridge from Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick; and Nova Scotia charges a minimum of $4.00 for vehicles from outside the province which use the Cobequid Pass on a section of Trans Canada Highway 104 between Oxford and Truro.
New Brunswick has apparently been toying with the idea of charging tolls on its highways to vehicles that are not registered in the province, as evidenced by an official document which reveals three different models of tolls that the province was considering.
Although a number of people are either not happy with the concept or outright propose it — the prime minister of Canada himself is reportedly one of those people — the premier of New Brunswick is purportedly not backing down from converting the idea of charging tolls on highways within the province into reality.
The budget of New Brunswick is currently operating at a deficit of a record $1.3 billion, as the province is reportedly $13 billion in debt. The proposed tolls are estimate to provide $10.4 million annually, which would be a source of relief that could chip away at the debt.
Final Boarding Call
If the neighboring provinces of New Brunswick can charge its citizens tolls to use the aforementioned bridge and highway, why not reciprocate by charging anyone from outside the province a toll as well?
Actually, that is an incorrect way of thinking. Hopping on the tolling bandwagon simply because other provinces are doing it does not mean it is the best thing to do, as opponents argue that the tolls will interfere with free trade.
I am currently in New Brunswick at the time this article was published. I personally do not like the idea of an increase in toll roads in the Maritime Provinces of Canada…
…but then again, I abhor the idea of toll roads that only charge tolls electronically. They should at least be able to accept credit cards…
All photographs ©2026 by Brian Cohen.
