The Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick is stepping up to offer more council training.
As new municipal councils have been sworn in over the past two weeks, the union’s executive director, Dan Murphy, said the organization is working to supplement the training the province provides to municipalities.
Murphy said the additional measures come as a response to the Department of Local Government’s rejection of mandatory training.
“We are going to keep working towards [mandatory training], but in the meantime, the union is going to step in to help ensure our members have access to the information that helps them better perform their jobs,” he said.
In late 2025, New Brunswick’s Local Governance Commission recommended mandatory training for elected officials and senior staff.
That proposal was a part of the Commission’s first annual report, which outlined ongoing confusion and conflict in local governments following recent reforms.
For example, several municipalities in New Brunswick came under the supervision of the Local Government Comission, with Miramichi River Valley, Sunbury-York South, and Strait Shore being placed under supervision due to resignations and loss of quorum.
The training would’ve covered harassment, conflicts of interest, financial rules, and privacy laws, and officials would’ve been required to complete it within six months of taking office, with sanctions for those who don’t participate.
However, according to other media sources, the Department of Local Government decided not to implement the recommendation to make training mandatory.
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Instead, the department said it will focus its efforts to address the barriers that may have prevented elected officials from engaging with the training offered in partnership with the municipal associations.
In an article by The Courier, Minister Aaron Kennedy said there is too much hang-up on the word mandatory.
He also suggested that making the training mandatory might infringe on the democratic process and municipalities’ autonomy to make their own decisions.
However, Murphy said the union would still like to see training made compulsory because he believes it will ensure equity in the training municipalities receive.
“I think it’s something that our members have been very clear that they want from the province,” he added.
The province held an orientation event in Saint John from June 12 to June 13, offering sessions for local government officials and administrators, as well as rural district advisory committee members.
Some of the sessions focused on topics such as roles and responsibilities of elected officials and staff, code of conduct and conflict of interest, meeting procedures, right to information and protection of privacy act, rural district structure, rural advisory committee meetings, among others.
Murphy said the union will host regional meetings throughout June across its six regions to introduce the organization and highlight the resources available to members.
He added that the union will also host workshops on topics such as practical governance and understanding of roles and responsibilities, to help clarify the decision-making process for new officials and reinforce the training the government provided during the initial orientation weekend.
Later this summer, Murphy said the organization will also provide some training for mayors.
In the fall, at their Moncton conference, he said the union will provide another round of orientation, which will provide training on mental health and best practices for communications and social media, among other topics.
Additionally, later in the year, he said the union will also provide dedicated training to rural communities, but it’s still figuring out what those sessions will look like.
Murphy added that he believes New Brunswick’s local government training can be “more robust.”
He acknowledged that while the province is taking steps towards that, he believes that to achieve it, New Brunswick needs to follow the example of provinces like Newfoundland and Labrador, where training is mandatory and has to be completed within a specific timeframe.
“I think what we are looking for is to have a strong, well-resourced, well-trained group that knows what’s going on,” he said. “It takes time, and like every profession, you have to work through those trainings.”
