Serving Small Claims Documents in New Brunswick

Service Is Your Responsibility

When you file a claim in New Brunswick's Small Claims Court, the court clerk stamps your documents and hands them back. What the clerk does not do is serve them on the defendant. Arranging valid legal service is entirely on you, and getting it wrong can stall or sink your case.

You need to serve two things together: a stamped copy of Form 1 (your Claim) and a blank Form 2 (Response/Counterclaim) so the defendant can reply.

Three Valid Service Methods

General Regulation 2012-103 prescribes three ways to serve initiating documents.

Personal delivery means physically handing the papers to the defendant. For an individual, you may also leave a copy with an adult occupant of their home and send another copy to that address by ordinary mail on the same or next day. If the defendant is a corporation, service may be made by leaving the papers with a director or officer, a person who appears to manage or control its place of business, a receptionist who works there, or at its registered office.

Registered mail or courier works if you get a signed delivery receipt. The date the recipient signs the return card or courier tracking confirmation is the date service is deemed to have occurred. Standard unregistered mail by itself does not count.

Sheriff service costs $75 per person served ($30 for each additional person at the same time and place). You request it through the Sheriff Services office in the relevant judicial district. This is the most reliable option when the defendant might refuse to accept documents or is hard to locate during business hours.

What Doesn't Count

Unless a court order specifically authorizes it, the following are not valid service:

• Leaving papers at the defendant's door or mailbox
• Regular (non-registered) mail by itself
• Email or text message
• Social media message
• Leaving papers with an adult occupant of the defendant's home without also mailing another copy to that address on the same or next day

If standard methods aren't working — the defendant is avoiding you, you can't find a current address, or they've left the province — you can apply for substituted service using Form 23. The court may authorize service by an alternative method, but you need the order before you use it.

The One-Year Deadline

You have one year from the date you filed your claim to complete service on every named defendant. If you can't manage it within a year, apply for an extension using Form 23. The court may extend the time either before or after it expires. If no extension is granted, you may need to file a new claim — and by then, the two-year limitation period on your underlying dispute may have run.

Filing Proof of Service

After service is complete, you need to prove it happened. The person who actually served the documents — not you, unless you did it yourself through registered mail — swears Form 20 (Affidavit of Service) before a commissioner of oaths or a notary public.

Form 20 records:

• Who was served
• When and where service happened
• How service was carried out (personal delivery, registered mail, sheriff)
• Identification details, if applicable

For registered mail, you attach the signed return receipt or courier delivery confirmation to Form 20.

The court won't schedule a hearing or grant a default judgment without proof of service on file. If your Form 20 is incomplete or the service method wasn't valid, the Adjudicator will flag it — often by adjourning your hearing until service is properly completed.

What Triggers After Service

Once the defendant is validly served, a 30-day clock starts. They have 30 days to file a Response (Form 2). If they don't respond within 30 days, you can apply for default judgment. If they do respond, the court schedules a hearing.

This 30-day window is firm. The court counts from the deemed date of service — the day the papers were physically handed over, or the day the return receipt was signed.

Get Service Right the First Time

Service is one of the most common points of failure in small claims cases. Our Making a Small Claim in New Brunswick guide includes a service tracker worksheet and step-by-step instructions for each service method, including what to do when the defendant is evasive.

See more New Brunswick guides →