The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

I'm amazed nothing has leaked about this in 4 years

I'm sure there is a lot going on behind the scenes with the Ashford/Downing project too.

All we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg. I have some insider information about what may happen with Ashford/Downing, but I am sworn to secrecy. Nothing is ever official until it is announced, and things could still happen that could derail the whole Ashford project, I remain confident however. It would be transformational.

I had been made aware of the probability of highrise development behind the Northwest Centre over the last couple of years, but, I was advised not to say anything, and I had no inkling at the time of the overall sophistication of this plan. If this pans out, it will be truly transformational too.

This Shannex development was originally planned for LJR Blvd in the Vision Lands about 7-8 years ago or so, until Costco pulled out of the Mapleton Crossing Phase Two and decided to build on Granite Drive instead. The rest of the plans subsequently collapsed like a house of cards. Shannex then purchased this land behind the Northwest Centre and started the planning process all over again.

[reflist]

Wow this is an amazing project proposal. this sure will satisfy the wheeler infill plans. Once this site is fully developed, the only major empty spots inside wheeler is next to the Home Depot area of Carson Dr, the Intercolonial Way site, and of course all the parking lots downtown. Like everybody else, I am eager to hear more about the Downing project. We are privileged to see Moncton finally get rolling these past few years.

[new kid in town]

Ah what an impressive proposal! Hope it pushes through.

As for the FB comments (at least in Retail Talk), the logical comments are often liked more than the sensationalist, pearl clutching nostalgia ones.

[Dartguard]

Good for Moncton, there is a close to real life cousin under construction, also by Shannex, off Larry Utek in Halifax.

The excellent Halifax Developments facebook page has some images.

https://www.facebook.com/DevelopmentsHFX/

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Dartguard

Good for Moncton, there is a close to real life cousin under construction, also by Shannex, off Larry Utek in Halifax.

The excellent Halifax Developments facebook page has some images.

https://www.facebook.com/DevelopmentsHFX/

Thanks

One thing i have noticed is that as greater Moncton grows, it is becoming increasingly multi-nodal in terms of it's growth pattern. In the past it was mostly just downtown, with several radiating retail strips.

These individual growth nodes are becoming more apparent:

1) - downtown Moncton
2) - Mountain/Wheeler (including this new development)
3) - Magnetic Hill
4) - Vision Lands (incipient)
5) - downtown Dieppe
6) - uptown Dieppe
7) - Findlay Park in Riverview
8) - west Riverview (Riverview Place)

Each of these nodes is developing it's own character and in some cases skyline. The presence of these nodes will affect regional planning and infrastructure. Public transit will also be affected. Will we see more node-to-node transit routes developed in addition to the existing hub and spoke system?

Interesting times.

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Thanks

One thing i have noticed is that as greater Moncton grows, it is becoming increasingly multi-nodal in terms of it's growth pattern. In the past it was mostly just downtown, with several radiating retail strips.

These individual growth nodes are becoming more apparent:

1) - downtown Moncton
2) - Mountain/Wheeler (including this new development)
3) - Magnetic Hill
4) - Vision Lands (incipient)
5) - downtown Dieppe
6) - uptown Dieppe
7) - Findlay Park in Riverview
8) - west Riverview (Riverview Place)

Each of these nodes is developing it's own character and in some cases skyline. The presence of these nodes will affect regional planning and infrastructure. Public transit will also be affected. Will we see more node-to-node transit routes developed in addition to the existing hub and spoke system?

Interesting times.

Interesting. I would add Riverview east/Bridgedale blvd area which has a lot of potential, especially with the new recreation complex.

You could also consider Shediac as a node. The explosive growth there (fastest in the province) is certainly not an isolated phenomenon and surely a consequence of the growth in Moncton. So many of the new residents are Ontario and Quebec transplants who happen to work in Moncton.

[Leroy321]

Station yard proposal:
https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/Dec_16_2025/6b_Station_Yards_Avis_Public_Notice.pdf

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

Station yard proposal:
https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/Dec_16_2025/6b_Station_Yards_Avis_Public_Notice.pdf

How many 15 minute city prostestors do we think are gonna show up at this hearing on the 19th?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lirette

How many 15 minute city prostestors do we think are gonna show up at this hearing on the 19th?

It should be quite entertaining.

[jonny golden]

Interesting. I would add Riverview east/Bridgedale blvd area which has a lot of potential, especially with the new recreation complex.

I was thinking the same thing. The residential construction in that area has been strong for several years: SFH, semis and apartment buildings. It's just a matter of time before we see commercial being added to this neighbourhood, especially with the new rec center being built.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Leroy321

Station yard proposal:
https://www5.moncton.ca/docs/pac/PAC/Dec_16_2025/6b_Station_Yards_Avis_Public_Notice.pdf

Looking carefully at the plans, it appears Shannex is planning on

- three 18 storey buildings
- five 15 storey buildings
- two 12 storey buildings
- six 10 storey buildings

and, on the Shannex campus itself.

- up to seven 12 storey buildings
- and a 10 storey building

In addition to all the townhouses, stacked townhomes and midrises up to eight storeys tall (8-9 total) in the "lower density" part on the planned neighbourhood.

Greater Moncton will have never before seen density like this.

[new kid in town]

And here I was lowkey hoping the next high-rises (2 of them at most) would be the rumored location near the Casino. When in fact, this Shannex proposal blows that out of the water.

[Taeolas]

Well the Shannix proposal does blow just about all other projects out of the water, it's also a long term proposal that will take about a decade+ to fully develop. And the taller projects are towards the end of the timeline if I understand properly.

So the Casino project could still do a speedrun and get their taller buildings up before the Shannix proposal.

[new kid in town]

Also valid. Although we haven't heard much progress on those rumors as well. I wonder if they're all waiting for certain other projects in the city to start/complete first.

[Leroy321]

Originally Posted by new kid in town

Also valid. Although we haven't heard much progress on those rumors as well. I wonder if they're all waiting for certain other projects in the city to start/complete first.

Rumour is they have downsized the project a lot.

[MonctonRad]

It should be noted that for the Shannex campus in particular, the height plan calls for buildings "up to 12 storeys max." As such they could be much smaller than this perhaps 6-8 storeys.



The buildings at the Shannex Faubourg du Mascaret on Morton are about six storeys, It should be noted that the original plan for the Shannex complex on LJR Blvd that was scuppered did call for 12 storey buildings, so I could see this happening here.

Still, this will be a truly transformational project of unparalleled density in greater Moncton

[MonctonRad]

I wonder how closely they have examined the transit implications of the Station Yards development?



We're talking about multiple high rise buildings on an 80 acre site with nearly 5000 new residential units. There will be a major Shannex Parkland campus as part of the development with a lot of potentially car-free residents, and also presumably a large itinerant student population in the main part of the development due to the NBCC next door. A lot of these student residents may be car-free as well. There will almost certainly be a major need for reliable public transit.

A new transit route along Worthington would seem to be mandatory. Presumably this would deviate up past the Shannex Parkland campus to serve the residents there. I wonder if it is because of transit that they are speculating about a "connector" between the Station Yard development and Plaza Blvd, that would bisect the Northwest Centre roughly where the Marshall's store is located? This would make sense in that it would provide a straight shot for a possible bus route up towards Plaza Blvd and the current transit hub across from the Moncton West Walmart.

I wonder if the city has been negotiating with the owners of the Northwest Centre, or have just pencilled in that dotted yellow line for discussion purposes?

[MonctonRad]

Moncton’s Vision Lands a step closer to development
Council approves subdivision of a parcel to create building lots, streets, parkland
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Dec 16, 2025 3:17 PM AST | Last Updated: 34 minutes ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/vision-lands-park-update-9.7017799

Moncton’s dream of development in the Vision Lands took a step forward Monday as initial details of a new city park went public.

For decades Moncton has hoped to see a 566-hectare area between the Trans-Canada Highway and Wheeler Boulevard developed. Most of the land is privately owned.

On Monday, council approved a plan to subdivide one privately owned parcel into 11 building lots, create or extend public streets, and set aside land for a park around the North Branch of Halls Creek. The plan is for a portion of the Vision Lands owned by HarbourEdge Realty Administration Corp.

The majority of this parcel will be converted to parkland (around the north branch of Hall's Creek). Aside from this, a relatively small number of building lots will be created, as well as the spine of a new road network in the Vision Lands, including an extension of Leopold Belliveau Parkway, and a stub of LJR Blvd which will eventually connect to Mapleton Road. A connector to Crowley Farm Road is also shown (which will eventually become part of LJR Blvd, feeding into UdeM).

there are no specific timelines for actual construction to begin.

City staff said various other steps need to be taken before any construction would take place, including securing funding to build new roads.

Monday’s meeting revealed the landowner (Harbour Edge) will donate 8.5 hectares and the city will buy a further 40.1 hectares to create a 48.7-hectare regional park.

The city’s 2026 budget includes $500,000 to buy land for a park. No purchase price was disclosed Monday.

This new park will be about half the size of Centennial Park.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

The Telegraph Journal

N.B. prof ranked among world's top AI researchers

UdeM prof being international recogized for artificial intelligence research



Moulay Akhloufi, professor in the computer science department at l'Université de Moncton, is listed on Stanford University's 2025 list of the world's top 2 per cent of most influential scientists for his work in artificial intelligence research. SUBMITTED

A Moncton professor has received two international rankings for being one of the top researchers in the field of artificial intelligence.


Moulay Akhloufi, professor in the computer science department at l’Université de Moncton, is listed on Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2 per cent of most influential scientists for 2025.

Stanford bases its list on the published articles that the scientists have contributed to, as well as how their work is cited by other researchers in articles and publications, according to the TopSciNet website.

ScholarGPS, a renowned scholarly analytics platform, has ranked Akhloufi ninth worldwide in the field of “deep learning” for his achievements over the past five years and 33rd worldwide for his entire career, said UdeM in a news release.

Deep learning is an AI method that teaches computers to process data in a way inspired by the human brain.

Akhloufi said in an interview the rankings were evidence his work was helping colleagues globally in their own endeavours.

“It’s the kind of reward and recognition that you like to see because it’s recognition of the work you are doing and the impact of your work in the field,” he said.

Currently, Akhloufi’s two biggest areas of research are in health care and wildfires.

“After the pandemic obviously a lot of people were looking to AI as a solution to help the health care system,” he said, adding AI is also being considered for helping hospitals with patient flow and discharge planning.

Akhloufi, who is the UdeM research chair in artificial intelligence in health, said he and his team are working on using AI to detect various diseases, including several types of cancers, based on diagnostic imaging, such as X rays, CT scans, and MRIs.

Figured many in Moncton would find this article interesting and quite notable for the city/ UdeM... especially MonctonRad given the healthcare/ diagnostic imaging aspects of Dr. Akhloufi's research.

... Maybe this Moroccan-Monctonian AI expert can use the power of AI to figure out a way to make that Moncton<->Morocco flight, which I never miss a chance to mention, a reality someday.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

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Figured many in Moncton would find this article interesting and quite notable for the city/ UdeM... especially MonctonRad given the healthcare/ diagnostic imaging aspects of Dr. Akhloufi's research.

The "automatic radiologist", the wet dream of all health care economists and hospital administrators in North America.

Will this replace radiologists completely, no, but, would certainly decrease the need for interpretive services by radiologists, which is a majority of what we do, and, is how we generate our income.

Radiologists view AI with considerable suspicion. It would certainly improve our throughput, and might increase our diagnostic accuracy, but, radiologists (like most knowledge workers) certainly feel threatened and have a sense of impending doom over these rapid changes

I remember about 20 years ago when we first started using voice recognition software in our dictation system. All the stenographers were assured at the time that their jobs were safe, and that they would be kept on to do "corrections", but, the voice recognition proved so accurate, even with complex and highly technical diagnostic reports, that all but one of them were let go within a few weeks.

I'm glad I'm retiring in six months. I will miss the upcoming carnage.......