Moving from the US to New Brunswick: What Changes on Your Taxes
Moving from the US to New Brunswick combines the general Canadian cross-border rules (worldwide-income filing, deemed acquisition of your assets, ongoing US reporting) with a few things specific to this province: one of the highest top tax rates in the country, 15% HST, a Medicare wait on arrival, and a job market built around a small number of large employers. If you’re a US citizen, the 1040 doesn’t stop just because you moved; the foreign tax credit is what keeps you from paying twice on the same dollar.
New Brunswick’s top provincial rate is 19.5% on income above roughly $185,064, pushing the combined federal-provincial marginal rate to about 53.3%, among the highest in Canada. HST runs 15%, also one of the country’s higher consumption tax rates. NB Medicare typically carries a waiting period of about three months from the date you establish residency, so private coverage needs to bridge that gap on arrival. US citizens keep filing the 1040, FBAR, and FATCA forms indefinitely; the 401(k) and traditional IRA stay treaty-deferred, and a Roth IRA needs a one-time election to stay tax-free in Canada.
Why are Americans moving to New Brunswick?
A handful of large employers drive the province’s job market and pull in cross-border hires directly. Irving runs the oil refinery in Saint John along with major forestry and shipbuilding operations, and regularly recruits skilled trades and engineering talent from the US side of the I-95 corridor, particularly out of Maine and greater Boston.
- McCain Foods, headquartered in Florenceville-Bristol, draws food-science and operations staff from across North America. Moncton has built a growing tech and bilingual call-center sector that leans on staff who can work comfortably in both English and French, and UNB’s health sciences programs feed a steady stream of healthcare recruitment.
- New Brunswick is Canada’s only officially bilingual province, which matters directly for francophone Americans and for any employer that needs bilingual staff for national call-center or government-adjacent work
- Cost of living is meaningfully lower than Halifax, Montreal, or Toronto, which is the main draw for anyone comparing New Brunswick against the bigger Canadian cities rather than against the US
How does New Brunswick’s income tax work?
New Brunswick taxes income on four graduated brackets, topping out at 19.5% on income above roughly $185,064 (indexed annually). Combined with federal tax, that puts the marginal rate on income above the top threshold at about 53.3%, one of the highest combined rates anywhere in Canada. Lower brackets run well below that, so the rate that actually matters depends heavily on where your total income lands once you arrive.
- Unlike a domestic move, you’re not comparing this against another Canadian province’s rate; you’re comparing it against whatever US state tax you were paying, which for most American movers was meaningfully lower or zero.
What is New Brunswick’s HST rate?
New Brunswick charges HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) at 15%, a blended federal-provincial rate administered entirely by the CRA rather than split across two tax authorities. It applies to almost everything you buy day to day: groceries are mostly exempt, but restaurant meals, services, vehicles, and most retail purchases carry the full 15%. There’s no separate state-and-local sales tax stack to track the way there is in the US; it’s one number, charged once, at checkout.
When does NB Medicare coverage start?
New Brunswick Medicare (the provincial health plan) typically carries a waiting period of about three months from the date you establish residency in the province, during which you need private health insurance. This is the mirror image of what happens on the way out: for someone leaving New Brunswick permanently, coverage ends on the departure date; for someone arriving, coverage doesn’t start until the wait clears. Line up private coverage, an employer plan, or a bridge policy before you land, not after, since gaps in coverage during the waiting period are entirely on you.
What happens to my 401(k), IRA, and Roth IRA?
Your 401(k) and traditional IRA stay tax-deferred under the US-Canada treaty; you don’t trigger Canadian tax on the balance just by moving, and withdrawals are taxed when they come out, coordinated between the two countries through the foreign tax credit. A Roth IRA is different: it only stays tax-free in Canada if you file the one-time treaty election on your first Canadian return. Miss that election and Canada can tax the growth as it accrues, which defeats the entire point of holding a Roth in the first place. This is a paperwork step, not a judgment call, so it needs to happen on schedule.
Do I still have to file US taxes from Canada?
Yes, for as long as you hold US citizenship. Moving to New Brunswick doesn’t end your US filing obligation: you keep filing the 1040 on worldwide income, FBAR on foreign accounts above the threshold, and FATCA Form 8938 reporting on top of that. The foreign tax credit is what prevents double taxation, and given how high New Brunswick’s combined rate runs, most movers end up with more Canadian tax paid than US tax owed, generating a credit carryover rather than a current US tax bill. That carryover is still worth tracking accurately year to year.
How does NB compare to Maine and Massachusetts?
The tax gap between New Brunswick and the New England states most Americans are leaving from is large, running in the opposite direction from most cross-border comparisons: here, the mover is generally taking on a higher rate, not a lower one.
| Jurisdiction | Top state/provincial income tax rate | Sales/consumption tax |
|---|---|---|
| New Brunswick | 19.5% (about 53.3% combined with federal) | 15% HST |
| Maine | 7.15% | 5.5% |
| Massachusetts | 9% (surtax above $1M); 5% flat below that | 6.25% |
| New Hampshire | 0% on wages | 0% |
Nobody moves to New Brunswick from Maine or Massachusetts for the tax rate. The draw is the job (often an Irving or McCain role, or a healthcare posting), the lower cost of living relative to Halifax or Toronto, and for some, the bilingual environment; the tax bill is simply the cost of that trade.
What should I do next?
Before you move, model both returns, the partial-year US filing and the arriving Canadian return, so the rate gap isn’t a surprise on your first NB assessment. Line up private health coverage for the Medicare waiting period, file the Roth IRA treaty election on time if you hold one, and set up FBAR and FATCA tracking from your first year rather than catching up later.
- American moving to Canada, first-time taxes, the general framework
- US citizen moving to Canada, tax checklist, the filing sequence
- What happens to your 401(k) in Canada, the retirement account detail
- Does a Roth IRA stay tax-free in Canada?, the treaty election
- FBAR filing requirements, who has to file and when
- FATCA explained, the Form 8938 reporting layer
- Foreign tax credit limitation and carryover, how the credit actually works
- Moving from New Brunswick to the US, the reverse corridor
- Moving from the US to Ontario, the sister provincial corridor
- Canada vs US tax rates compared, the broader rate picture
The Cross-Border Assessment is a fixed $250. You get a written, CPA-reviewed plan covering NB's tax rates against your income, Medicare coverage timing, 401(k)/IRA/Roth treatment, and your ongoing FBAR/FATCA obligations.
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Yarik Yarosh, CPA. "Moving from the US to New Brunswick: What Changes on Your Taxes." Blue Cloud CPA, August 31, 2026. https://bluecloudcpa.com/guides/moving-from-us-to-new-brunswick-taxes
This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.