One of the co-chairs of the commission reviewing New Brunswick's provincial election boundaries says substantial changes are going to be needed across the province.

The commission has to figure out a way to reduce the number of ridings from 55 to 49 by September 2014.

Allan Maher, a former Liberal finance minister and current co-chair of the Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission, said anyone who speaks to the commission will get a fair hearing.

"We may not be able to address every concern that they have because of the constraints that we do have, but we want to hear from them and we're going to certainly consider every representation we receive," said Maher.

"Some of them may be similar to what they are, but I suspect generally speaking you're going to see a rather substantial change across the province."

Maher said he thinks New Brunswickers will still be adequately represented with fewer MLAs.

"We have access to all kinds of communication apparatuses now, so I think the role of an MLA, by reducing the numbers, is going to be a little bit more than it currently is, but I don't think it's going to be something that's going to be inadequate or unable to be handled."

Electoral boundary reviews are held every 10 years, after the census.

Commissions look at the demographic changes since the last redistribution and propose a new set of electoral boundaries with the goal to have parliamentary representation better reflect a province's changing demographics.

The first meeting was held Monday night in Moncton. Another is planned for Tuesday night in Sackville.

The commission will visit:

• Moncton: Oct. 1, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Fundy Room, Future Inn Hotel and Conference Centre.
• Sackville: Oct. 2, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre.
• Saint Andrews: Oct. 9, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Huntsman Marine Science Centre.
• Saint John: Oct. 9, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Hampton Inn.
• Bouctouche: Oct. 19, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Guy A. Richard Hall, J.K. Irving Centre.
• Miramichi: Oct. 19, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Howard Johnson Inn and Suites.
• Caraquet: Oct. 21, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Centre culturel de Caraquet.
• Bathurst: Oct. 24, 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. - K.C Irving Regional Centre.
• Dalhousie: Oct. 24, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Salon B, Best Western Plus Manoir Adelaide.
• Edmundston: Oct. 25, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Best Western Plus.
• Grand Falls: Oct. 25, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Quality Inn Près du lac.
• Woodstock: Oct. 30, 7 p.m.- 10 p.m. - Grafton Room, Best Western Plus.
• Fredericton: Nov. 1, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. - Salon E, Fredericton Inn.