New Brunswick Small Claims Court Limit

The Current Cap: $20,000

New Brunswick's Small Claims Court handles claims up to $20,000. This ceiling was set by N.B. Reg. 2018-23, which amended the General Regulation under the Small Claims Act. Before 2018, the limit was $12,500 — and before that, $6,000. If you've seen those older numbers online, they're out of date.

The $20,000 limit applies to three types of claims:

• Debt or damages: The total you're claiming, including pre-judgment interest, cannot exceed $20,000. Court costs are excluded from the calculation.
• Recovery of personal property: The fair market value of the property must be $20,000 or less. Court costs are again excluded.
• Combined claims: If you're seeking both money and the return of property, the aggregate of the money claimed (with interest) and the property's value cannot exceed $20,000.

What If Your Claim Is Over $20,000?

You have two options.

Abandon the excess. Section 7 of the Small Claims Act lets you give up the amount over $20,000 to bring your claim within jurisdiction. You state the abandonment in your claim form. The catch is harsh: under Section 8, the abandoned portion is gone permanently. You cannot recover it in Small Claims Court or any other court — unless the case later transfers to the Court of King's Bench, where you can ask a judge to let you withdraw the abandonment.

Sue in the Court of King's Bench. If you don't want to lose the excess, you can file in the superior court instead. This means higher filing fees, more formal procedures, and a longer timeline — but you can claim the full amount.

The No-Splitting Rule

You cannot carve a $30,000 dispute into two $15,000 claims to stay under the limit. Section 6 of the Small Claims Act explicitly prohibits splitting a single cause of action into multiple claims for the purpose of fitting within the court's monetary jurisdiction. If the court or the defendant catches it, your claims can be struck.

How Pre-Judgment Interest Factors In

Pre-judgment interest counts toward the $20,000 ceiling. If your base claim is $19,000 and two years of contractual interest adds $2,000, your total is $21,000 and you'd need to abandon $1,000 or file in the Court of King's Bench.

This matters most for older debts where interest has been accumulating. Calculate your interest before filing — if you're close to the line, the difference between $19,500 and $20,500 determines which court you're in.

Claims That Don't Belong Here

Some disputes are excluded regardless of dollar amount. The Small Claims Court cannot hear:

• Family law matters (divorce, custody, spousal support)
• Disputes over title to land or any interest in land
• Claims about entitlement under a will or intestacy
• Libel, slander, breach of promise of marriage, malicious arrest, malicious prosecution, or false imprisonment

Residential tenancy disputes — including security deposits — go to the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office (formerly the Residential Tenancies Tribunal), not to Small Claims Court.

Get Help Calculating Your Claim

Our Making a Small Claim in New Brunswick guide includes a forum-screening worksheet that walks you through the jurisdictional checks and a fee calculator for estimating your total claim amount, including pre-judgment interest.

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