New Brunswick Police Scanner Guide
Best Police Scanner for New Brunswick, Canada: Frequencies, Systems and Recommendations
New Brunswick runs one of the most modern public safety radio networks in Canada, and that cuts both ways for scanner listeners. Nearly every police, fire, and EMS agency in the province now dispatches on a single digital trunked system, so one capable scanner can follow traffic from Saint John to Miramichi. The catch is that a basic analog scanner will not pick up much of anything here anymore. This guide covers the system New Brunswick actually runs, which counties sit on it, where encryption comes into play, and the two Uniden handhelds we recommend for reliable coverage across the province.
What Radio System Does New Brunswick Use?
New Brunswick's police, fire, and EMS agencies dispatch on the New Brunswick Trunked Mobile Radio system, known as NBTMR. NBTMR is the New Brunswick segment of a larger four province network, the Atlantic Provinces Public Safety Network (APPSN), a 700 MHz Project 25 (P25) Phase 1 trunked system that also covers Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Inside APPSN, New Brunswick runs as its own radio frequency subsystem with more than 100 fixed sites stretching from Campbellton down to Saint John, according to RadioReference.
NBTMR replaced a patchwork of older systems, including the standalone Moncton Public Safety and Saint John Public Safety radio networks and Fredericton's earlier Aliant Trunked Mobile Radio setup, along with numerous conventional VHF and UHF channels that used to vary from town to town. There is also a separate, much smaller RCMP Transportable System, a portable P25 setup the RCMP occasionally deploys for temporary operations rather than everyday dispatch.
Because NBTMR is digital P25 trunking rather than conventional analog, an analog only scanner will catch just scattered leftover conventional traffic. To hear dispatch reliably, you need a digital trunk tracking scanner built for P25 Phase 1, like the two we recommend below.
New Brunswick Counties on NBTMR
| County | Coverage on NBTMR (APPSN) |
| Albert | Riverside-Albert, Fundy Park, and Gowland Mountain sites |
| Carleton | Benton Ridge, Bristol, and Richmond Corner sites |
| Charlotte | Saint Stephen, St. George, and Grand Manan Island |
| Gloucester | Bathurst, Caraquet, and Tracadie |
| Kent | Bouctouche and the Kouchibouguac area |
| Kings | Sussex and surrounding communities |
| Madawaska | Edmundston and the upper Saint John River valley |
| Northumberland | Miramichi |
| Queens | Jemseg and the Grand Lake area |
| Restigouche | Campbellton and Dalhousie |
| Saint John | NBTMR's central processor city, with 5 local sites |
| Sunbury | Oromocto |
| Victoria | Grand Falls; fire dispatch splits between the Edmundston and Perth-Andover PSAPs |
| Westmorland | Moncton and Shediac |
| York | Fredericton, covered by 3 dedicated sites, plus McAdam and Stanley |
Source: RadioReference New Brunswick database
Is New Brunswick Police Radio Encrypted?
Encryption on NBTMR is not all or nothing, and it does not apply the same way to every agency. General dispatch and mutual aid talkgroups, the traffic most listeners want to follow, are still transmitted in the clear across most of the network. Shared interoperability channels used between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, including the regional HAZMAT and search and rescue talkgroups, are unencrypted as well.
Encryption shows up more consistently on specific categories of traffic. Federal channels used by the RCMP, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Parks Canada run encrypted, along with several law enforcement tactical talkgroups across the Atlantic network. The biggest recent shift affects fire departments: in late November 2024, provincial fire department traffic across the Maritime network, New Brunswick included, moved to full encryption, a change that surprised a lot of longtime listeners.
None of this makes a scanner a bad investment in New Brunswick. It just means you should set expectations by agency rather than by county: strong coverage of general public safety chatter, and little to no coverage of fire dispatch or tactical law traffic.
The Best Police Scanners for New Brunswick
Because NBTMR runs P25 Phase 1 digital trunking, you need a scanner built for digital trunk tracking rather than a basic analog model. Both scanners below share the same True I/Q digital platform, so either one will track New Brunswick's system reliably. Neither can decode fully encrypted channels, and no legal scanner can.
Uniden SDS150
$949.99
Uniden's current flagship handheld and the easiest way to get full NBTMR coverage right out of the box. It keeps the True I/Q platform that makes the SDS100 so strong on P25 simulcast sites, the kind spread across York and Saint John counties, then adds built in GPS for location based scanning, USB-C charging with an included dock style cradle, and phone control through the U/AWARE app. If you cross county lines often, the built in GPS alone makes this the easier scanner to live with.
| Shop the Uniden SDS150 |
Uniden SDS100
$699.99
Uses the same True I/Q platform and handles NBTMR's digital trunking just as reliably as the SDS150, at a lower price point. You give up the built in GPS, USB-C charging, and U/AWARE app control that the newer model adds, but the underlying reception is every bit as capable.
| Shop the Uniden SDS100 |
Not sure which one fits your county or your setup? Book a free call with our scanner experts and we will help you choose the right radio and get it programmed for New Brunswick before it ships.
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Watch Before You Buy
Want a look at the SDS150 and SDS100 before your scanner arrives? Our Zip Scanners YouTube channel has unboxing, setup, and programming walkthroughs for both models, plus tips for handling the simulcast sites NBTMR uses across York, Saint John, and Westmorland counties.
| Watch on YouTube |
New Brunswick Police Scanner FAQ
What radio system do New Brunswick police use?
Most New Brunswick police, fire, and EMS agencies dispatch on NBTMR, the New Brunswick portion of the Atlantic Provinces Public Safety Network (APPSN), a 700 MHz P25 Phase 1 digital trunked system shared with Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Can I use an analog scanner in New Brunswick?
Not for most agencies. NBTMR is a digital P25 trunked system, so an analog only scanner will miss the large majority of police, fire, and EMS traffic in the province. You need a digital trunk tracking scanner such as the SDS100 or SDS150.
Is New Brunswick police radio encrypted?
Some of it. General dispatch and mutual aid channels are typically unencrypted, but many tactical law enforcement channels, federal agency traffic, and, since late 2024, provincial fire department traffic run encrypted. Coverage depends on the agency, not the county.
Which scanner is better for New Brunswick, the SDS100 or SDS150?
Both track NBTMR equally well. The SDS150 adds built in GPS, USB-C charging, and phone app control, which makes it the easier out of the box choice if you travel between counties. The SDS100 covers the same digital trunking at a lower price if you do not need those extras.
New Brunswick's move to a fully digital, provincewide trunked system means the right scanner matters more than it used to. Whichever model you choose, we will program it for your New Brunswick counties before it ships.
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