Summary#
Bill 28, the Enforcement of Canadian Judgments Act, would repeal and replace New Brunswick’s Canadian Judgments Act and set rules for enforcing certain judgments from other Canadian provinces and territories. Its stated goal is to provide for their enforcement in New Brunswick; that is a goal, not a guaranteed result. The supplied bill text does not include the existing Act, so current rules cannot be checked against it.
Two amendments were marked “carried” on May 6, 2026. They change the bill as introduced: the definition of a “Canadian civil protection order” would also include any order prescribed by regulation, and the regulation-making section would expressly allow the government to prescribe those orders. The bill’s commencement date would be set by proclamation; the materials do not establish that the bill itself became law.
- An enforcing party could register eligible judgments with a Court of King’s Bench clerk. The clerk must register one if the required fee and documents are filed.
- A money judgment could be registered only if it is final. Once registered, a judgment could generally be enforced like a Court of King’s Bench judgment, subject to the bill’s limits.
- The government could prescribe fees and registration documents, and—under the adopted amendments—add types of orders to the civil-protection-order category.
- A Canadian civil protection order could be enforced as a Court of King’s Bench order even without registration. New Brunswick law enforcement agencies may enforce it; the bill does not make enforcement mandatory.
- The bill excludes several kinds of judgments, including support orders, fines and penalties, most orders about a minor’s care or welfare, estate matters, and certain judgments enforcing other judgments.
What it means for you#
- People owed money under an eligible judgment: You could seek registration in New Brunswick, pay the prescribed fee, and file the required documents. You could recover reasonable registration costs from the other party.
- People facing enforcement: You could apply to the Court of King’s Bench to set aside registration or ask for directions. The court must set registration aside if the judgment fails the bill’s registration requirements. But it could not set it aside just because the original court lacked jurisdiction, might have decided differently, or had a defect in its process.
- People named in Canadian civil protection orders: The order could be treated as a Court of King’s Bench order and enforced by New Brunswick law enforcement, whether or not registered. Good-faith acts or omissions in enforcing such an order would be protected from legal proceedings.
- Court staff and taxpayers: Court clerks would register judgments that meet the filing requirements. The bill does not set out staffing levels or costs.
- People affected by older proceedings: The old Canadian Judgments Act and its regulation would continue to apply to certain judgments from proceedings begun before the new law starts, where the person facing enforcement did not take part.
Money#
The bill requires a registration fee, but the available material gives no fee amount or public cost estimate.
- The government could set registration fees by regulation.
- The person registering a judgment must file required documents and may recover reasonable registration costs.
- No estimate is given for court, police, or government staffing costs.
What is unclear#
- Which additional orders, if any, the government would prescribe as Canadian civil protection orders.
- The fee amount, required affidavit details, other filing documents, and when regulations would be made.
- The bill does not set a start date; that would be fixed by proclamation.
- How the new law would interact in practice with existing rules and programs is unclear. The existing Canadian Judgments Act was not supplied for comparison.
- The bill does not require a general review of judgments or set out an appeal process for court decisions under it.
Case for#
- The bill appears intended to provide a process for enforcing eligible Canadian judgments in New Brunswick.
- Treating registered judgments like local court orders could avoid requiring a separate action on the judgment.
- Orders protecting people from proximity, contact, or threatening conduct could be enforced in New Brunswick, including by local law enforcement.
- The amendment would let regulations add other types of protection orders without changing the Act’s definition each time.
Case against#
- The amendment would let the government expand the kinds of orders treated as civil protection orders, but the bill does not state what those future orders would be.
- The bill gives limited grounds for challenging a registered judgment. A person cannot challenge it on the basis that the original court lacked jurisdiction, reached a different factual or legal decision, or had a defect in its process.
- Fees, filing details, and potential staffing costs are left to later regulations or are not estimated.
- The materials do not show how the proposed rules compare with current law, making the practical change difficult to assess.