LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Minimum Wage 

Feb 11: New Brunswick announced that it will increase its general minimum wage 25 cents to $15.90 per hour on April 1 to keep up with inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index, which grew by 1.7% in 2025. 

Action Point: Find out how to avoid common payroll errors when implementing minimum wage increases. 

Immigration 

March 10 is the deadline to comment on proposed regulations to promote labour mobility. Specifically, the Fair Registration Practices in Regulated Professions Act regulations establish new requirements and processes to make it faster and easier for internationally educated individuals seeking to practice in New Brunswick to get provincial recognition of their professional licences and credentials.  

Action Point: Find out about the 5 ways the new interprovincial free trade and labour mobility regulations will impact HR operations.  

New Laws 

Feb 2: ResearchNB announced $1.5 million in funding for five new research projects that align with the province's priority sectors, including studies of aquatic ecosystems, reform of primary medical care, hardwood management, marine resilience, and subsidized housing.   

Discrimination 

Jan 16: The New Brunswick Human Rights Commission published a flyer to help employers avoid national origin discrimination, which encompasses not just citizenship but also "cultural, sociological, and even spiritual dimensions," the Commission explains, including discrimination against people perceived as not being "Canadian enough" or supporting Canadian values or culture. 

Action Point: Find out about national origin and citizenship discrimination risks and how to avoid them. 

Accessibility 

Feb 4: New Brunswick signed a new five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government to share information and expertise to improve and advance accessibility standards across their respective jurisdictions. The thinking is that greater consistency in accessibility standards will lead to better service and reduction of barriers.  

Action Point: Find out more about accessibility laws across Canada. 

Workers' Compensation 

Feb 4: Comments closed on proposed revisions to clarify and simplify WorkSafeNB's policy and procedures for determining whether illnesses are work-related for purposes of workers' compensation coverage. The changes include a new appendix listing all WorkSafeNB-recognized occupational diseases, including two that were recently added.   

CASES

Labour Relations: High Court Nixes Union's Duty of Fair Representation Appeal 

While lawsuits by employees accusing their union of not fairly representing them happen all the time, very few reach a province's highest court. One that did involved a firefighter who claimed the City of Fredericton forced him to retire. The firefighter sued both the union and the City, but dropped the case against the latter. Left alone, the union asked for a Third Party Claim requiring the City to accept a grievance on the firefighter's behalf should the union be found liable for breaching its duty of fair representation. The court rejected the claim and the union appealed to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, which not only upheld the lower court's ruling but also ordered the union to pay $2,000 in legal costs [International Association of Firefighters, Local 1053 v. The City of Fredericton, 2026 NBCA 4 (CanLII), January 22, 2026].