Harbour Breton, Nfld, Town, pop 2079 (2001c), 2290 (1996c), 2418 (1991c), area 13.74 km2, inc 1952, is situated around a protected harbour near the mouth of Fortune B on Newfoundland's S coast. Probably first used by Breton fishermen (the likely source of its name, although it is recorded first as Havre Bertrand) during the 1600s, it was used and then settled by English fishermen in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Because of its superior harbour and its proximity to good fishing grounds, including the Grand Banks, it grew as one of the major service and commercial centres on the coast with representatives of several principal local and English fish merchants maintaining premises there over the years, most notably the Newman and Hunt Co. Today Harbour Breton remains an important regional centre, the site of fishing and fish-processing facilities.