New Brunswick Slip and Fall Laws: Negligence and Liability

In New Brunswick, slip and fall liability is governed by ordinary negligence law. The province abolished its former occupiers' liability legislation in 1994 and folded all such claims into the general law of negligence under the Law Reform Act, RSNB 2011, c 184, s 2. If you were injured on someone else's property, you must prove that the occupier failed to exercise the care a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances. New Brunswick is one of only three common-law provinces without a dedicated Occupiers' Liability Act, making its approach to premises liability meaningfully different from Ontario, British Columbia, and most other provinces.

What New Brunswick's Law Reform Act Means for Slip and Fall Claims

Most Canadians are familiar with the concept of an Occupiers' Liability Act. Six provinces (Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) have enacted statutes that impose a single statutory duty on occupiers to take reasonable care to keep their premises reasonably safe. New Brunswick took a different path.

In 1994, New Brunswick expressly abolished its occupiers' liability law. Section 2 of the Law Reform Act, RSNB 2011, c 184 (consolidating legislation originally enacted in 1994) provides that "any matter which, before June 1, 1994, would have been determined in accordance with the law of occupier's liability shall be determined in accordance with other rules of liability." Those other rules are the ordinary rules of negligence that govern all civil wrongs in the province.

This means there is no separate statutory framework for slip and fall claims in New Brunswick. Courts do not apply a dedicated occupiers' liability standard. Instead, they ask the same foundational question they ask in any negligence case: did the defendant fail to exercise the care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the same circumstances?

The practical result is broadly similar to what you would find in an OLA province. Property occupiers still owe a duty of care to lawful visitors. They are still expected to inspect their premises, address known hazards, and warn visitors of dangers that are not obvious. The difference lies in how the duty is framed and proved. In an OLA province, the statutory language sets the floor; in New Brunswick, the duty derives from the common law of negligence, developed through decades of case law from the Supreme Court of Canada downward.

The Three Elements You Must Prove

To succeed in a slip and fall negligence claim in New Brunswick, you must establish three elements on a balance of probabilities.

Duty of care. The occupier must have owed you a legal duty of care. For lawful visitors such as customers, tenants, guests, delivery workers, or members of the public on public property, a duty of care will almost always be established. The foundational test comes from the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Anns/Cooper, which asks first whether there is a sufficiently close relationship between the parties to give rise to a prima facie duty of care, and second whether there are policy reasons to negate or limit that duty. In most slip and fall cases on commercial or residential premises, that duty is clear.

Breach of duty. The occupier must have failed to meet the standard of a reasonable person in the circumstances. The standard is objective and contextual. Courts consider the nature of the premises, the foreseeability and severity of potential harm, the cost and practicality of precautions, and the activity being carried out. A grocery store that leaves a wet floor unmarked for two hours has almost certainly fallen below the standard. A homeowner who shovelled their walkway within an hour of a snowstorm may well have met it. The occupier's maintenance practices, inspection routines, and response to known hazards are all highly relevant.

Causation. The breach must have caused your injury. You must show, on a balance of probabilities, that you would not have been injured but for the occupier's failure. If you would have fallen even had the occupier done everything reasonably required, the causation element fails.

Common Slip and Fall Scenarios in New Brunswick

Falls on Ice and Snow

New Brunswick winters are long and severe. Icy sidewalks, parking lots, and building entrances are the single most common source of slip and fall claims in the province. The key questions are whether the occupier knew or ought to have known of the icy condition and whether they responded within a reasonable time.

Unlike Ontario, New Brunswick has no statutory 60-day written notice requirement specifically for snow or ice claims. There is no equivalent to Ontario's Occupiers' Liability Act, s 6.1. However, if the fall occurs on municipal property such as a public sidewalk, the municipal notice requirements described below apply and carry strict deadlines.

For falls on private property, the standard is general negligence. Evidence that the occupier had a regular inspection and salting schedule and followed it will be highly relevant. Evidence that ice had been present and visible for days without any response points toward breach.

Falls in Commercial Premises

Retail stores, restaurants, shopping centres, and office buildings attract high foot traffic and create predictable hazards: wet floors from cleaning or tracked-in rain, merchandise left in aisles, loose floor coverings, or poor lighting. The reasonable-care standard requires commercial occupiers to maintain regular inspection and cleaning routines appropriate to the volume of traffic and the nature of the premises.

Courts will examine whether the occupier had written inspection policies, whether those policies were actually followed, whether staff were trained to recognise and report hazards, and whether adequate warnings were placed near known hazard areas.

Falls on Residential Property

Homeowners in New Brunswick owe a duty of reasonable care to lawful visitors. A guest invited to your home, a utility worker with authority to access your property, or a postal worker delivering to your door is a lawful visitor to whom a duty is owed. The standard is the same: what would a reasonable homeowner have done?

Trespassers receive less protection. Because New Brunswick applies general negligence principles, the question of what duty is owed to a trespasser is answered by the broader negligence framework rather than by a specific statutory provision. The Law Reform Act, s 2 preserves available defences and apportionment rules; courts have applied a limited duty to trespassers, generally requiring only that the occupier not act with deliberate intent to harm or with reckless disregard of the trespasser's presence. The statute also notes that damages recoverable against a person trespassed against may be reduced on account of the trespass.

Falls on Government and Public Property

Falls on property owned or maintained by the provincial government, Crown corporations, or municipal governments follow the same negligence standard, but additional procedural requirements apply before you can bring a claim. See the section on municipal notice requirements below.

Limitation Period: Two Years to File Your Claim

In New Brunswick, the basic limitation period for personal injury claims is two years. This period runs under the Limitation of Actions Act, SNB 2009, c L-8.5.

The limitation clock begins to run from the date on which you discovered or reasonably ought to have discovered the material facts giving rise to your claim. Those facts are, broadly: that you suffered an injury, that the injury was caused by the occupier's act or omission, and that a legal proceeding would be an appropriate means of seeking a remedy.

In the great majority of slip and fall cases, the discovery date and the date of the fall coincide. You fell, you were injured, and you knew immediately that the injury was caused by a condition on someone else's property. The two-year period begins that day.

There are circumstances in which discovery is delayed. Where an injury appears minor initially but later reveals itself to be more serious, or where it takes time to establish that the cause was a latent defect rather than your own misstep, courts will assess when you ought reasonably to have known the full picture.

Do not wait. Two years sounds generous, but investigation, document gathering, specialist consultations, and lawyer retention all take time. Claims involving government bodies carry additional notice requirements that have much shorter windows.

Municipal Notice Requirements

If your fall occurred on property owned or controlled by a municipality (a public sidewalk, a city-maintained parking lot, a municipal building, or a park), you must comply with advance written notice requirements before you can maintain a civil action.

New Brunswick municipalities are governed by the Local Governance Act, SNB 2017, c 18 and related legislation. These statutes require that a person intending to bring a claim against a municipality for personal injury give advance written notice to the municipality. The notice must be delivered within a prescribed period and must include the date, time, and location of the incident, a description of the injury, and a statement of intent to bring a claim.

The municipal notice deadline is significantly shorter than the two-year limitation period. Missing it can be fatal to your claim. If you fell on a public sidewalk, a city-maintained pathway, or any other municipal property, you should consult a lawyer within days of the incident to ensure the notice is served on time. Courts have some discretion to excuse non-compliance where the claimant had a reasonable excuse and the municipality suffers no prejudice, but this relief is not guaranteed.

The municipality's liability is also subject to a reasonableness standard. Public bodies are expected to maintain public spaces to the standard a reasonable municipality of comparable resources would maintain, taking into account the nature of the space and the volume of use. Budget constraints do not provide blanket immunity, but they are a factor courts may consider.

Contributory Negligence and Apportionment

All Canadian provinces have abolished the old common-law rule that any degree of contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff completely bars recovery. New Brunswick follows the same approach.

Under the Contributory Negligence Act, RSNB 2011, c 131, where damages are caused or contributed to by the fault of two or more persons, including the plaintiff, liability is apportioned in proportion to each party's degree of fault. Your award is reduced by the percentage attributable to your own negligence.

In slip and fall cases, defence counsel routinely argue contributory negligence. Common arguments include that the plaintiff was wearing inappropriate footwear for the conditions, was not paying attention to where they were walking, was carrying items that obstructed their view of the ground, ignored visible warning signs, or chose to cross a hazard that was obvious and avoidable.

Courts consider the circumstances objectively. A wet floor warning cone placed just after a spill, in a well-lit area, through which the plaintiff walked while looking at their phone, may attract a material contributory negligence finding. A patch of black ice on an outdoor step with no visible indication of its presence almost certainly will not.

You can still recover compensation even if you were partly at fault. If you are found 20 per cent responsible and your total damages are $100,000, you will recover $80,000.

Damages Available in a New Brunswick Slip and Fall Claim

If you establish liability, you may claim compensation for the following heads of damages.

Non-pecuniary general damages cover pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of amenities. These damages are subject to the informal cap established by the Supreme Court of Canada in Andrews v Grand and Toy Alberta Ltd, 1978 CanLII 1 (SCC). Indexed for inflation, this cap currently sits at approximately CAD $430,000 to $450,000 in 2025 dollars. The cap applies to non-pecuniary damages only and is reached only in the most catastrophic cases.

Special damages compensate quantifiable financial losses, including past and future medical expenses, physiotherapy, medication, assistive devices, home care costs, and lost income. Lost future earning capacity is also recoverable where the injury has impaired your ability to work. These economic heads are uncapped.

Punitive and aggravated damages are rarely awarded in slip and fall cases absent highly egregious conduct. A property occupier who creates a trap or deliberately conceals a known danger to cause harm could attract punitive damages, but routine negligence, however careless, does not.

What You Should Do After a Slip and Fall in New Brunswick

Taking the right steps immediately after a fall protects your ability to bring a claim.

Seek medical attention as soon as possible, even if you feel the injury is minor. A contemporaneous medical record establishes that an injury occurred and when it occurred. Delayed medical treatment gives defence counsel grounds to argue the injury was not caused by the fall.

Document the scene. If you are able, photograph the hazard that caused your fall, the surrounding area, and any warning signs (or their absence). Identify witnesses and obtain their contact information. Note the date, time, weather conditions, and the precise location.

Report the incident. Notify the property owner, manager, or municipal authority in writing as soon as practicable. Request that they preserve any surveillance footage. Video evidence has a limited retention window, often 30 days or less.

Preserve your evidence. Keep the footwear you were wearing. Do not clean or discard clothing worn during the fall. Keep all receipts and records of expenses related to your injury.

Consult a lawyer promptly. In particular, if the fall occurred on municipal property, the notice clock may already be running. A personal injury lawyer familiar with New Brunswick law can advise on the specific notice requirements applicable to your situation and begin preserving evidence before it is lost.

How New Brunswick Compares to Other Canadian Provinces

New Brunswick's negligence-based approach produces outcomes broadly similar to what OLA provinces achieve, but the path is different.

In Ontario, a plaintiff points to the Occupiers' Liability Act and asks whether the occupier met the statutory standard of reasonable care to keep the premises reasonably safe. In New Brunswick, the plaintiff makes the same argument through the general law of negligence.

Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador are the only other common-law provinces that also lack an OLA. Saskatchewan applies the traditional common-law occupiers' duty categories, distinguishing between invitees, licensees, and trespassers, which the Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan recommended replacing as recently as May 2024. New Brunswick is more modern in its approach: by folding occupiers' liability into ordinary negligence, it eliminated the categorical distinctions entirely.

Quebec sits apart from all common-law provinces. It governs slip and fall liability through the Civil Code of Quebec, articles 1457 and 1465, and applies a three-year prescription period for bodily injury rather than two years.

For all other provinces (Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), the statutory duty under their respective OLA gives plaintiffs a specific, codified starting point. New Brunswick's plaintiffs start from the broader negligence framework, which requires slightly more analysis but achieves the same substantive result for most claims.

Frequently Asked Questions