Treadstone Associates
Regional Insight · New Brunswick

New Brunswick: construction compliance basics

New Brunswick had one of the strongest construction-employment years in the country in 2024. What follows is that real figure, the joint-committee threshold the province runs under the national CCOHS table, the federal recordkeeping rules every construction business carries regardless of province, and an honest note on where this page stopped short of a specific provincial lien-act figure.

Treadstone Associates · Updated 2026

Market signals

  • • New Brunswick construction employment rose 10.1% in 2024, with Saint John and Moncton each posting gains of more than 15%, per BuildForce Canada.
  • • A joint health and safety committee is required once a New Brunswick workplace regularly employs 20 or more workers, with representation agreed between the parties on an equal basis, per the CCOHS jurisdictional table.
  • • Every business carrying on construction activity in Canada must file a T5018 information return where its income is derived primarily from that activity, and keep records six years past the relevant taxation year, under ITR s. 238(2) and ITA s. 230(4)(b), per the Income Tax Act.

A provincial growth figure with two cities ahead of it

BuildForce Canada's account of 2024 records New Brunswick's construction employment rising 10.1%, and names the growth as “strong, broad-based,” with Saint John and Moncton each individually outpacing the provincial figure at gains of more than 15%, New Brunswick enjoyed strong, broad-based growth. That combination — a strong province with two even stronger cities inside it — is worth reading correctly: the 10.1% figure describes New Brunswick as a whole, not any single city within it, and a firm operating outside Saint John or Moncton should not assume the same pace applies to its own region.

The safety-committee threshold, from the national table

New Brunswick sits alongside the federal jurisdiction, Alberta, Nova Scotia and several others at a 20-worker trigger for a mandatory joint health and safety committee, with committee size left “as agreed” between the parties rather than fixed by regulation, and representation required to be equal, at least half employees. That “as agreed” structure is distinct from provinces like Ontario or British Columbia, which fix a minimum committee size in regulation — New Brunswick leaves the size itself to negotiation once the 20-worker threshold is crossed.

What could not be confirmed for New Brunswick specifically, stated plainly

This page does not state a holdback percentage or a lien-filing deadline for New Brunswick. New Brunswick's construction-lien legislation could not be confirmed from a source that discriminates a real provision from a fabricated one in this environment this session — the pattern is the same trap already documented for Ontario's e-Laws shell and Quebec's LégisQuébec mirror on this hub's fact sheet. A New Brunswick contractor should confirm its current lien and holdback obligations directly with counsel rather than from a number quoted here, and this page does not guess at one.

The federal layer applies regardless

Two duties apply to a New Brunswick construction business the same way they apply everywhere else in Canada: ITA s. 230(4)(b) requires books and records be kept for six years past the end of the relevant taxation year, and ITR s. 238(2) requires a T5018 information return covering payments made in the course of construction activities, filed within six months of the end of the chosen reporting period, where the payer's income is derived primarily from construction, under the Income Tax Act and its regulations.

Common questions

Does New Brunswick's 10.1% growth figure apply evenly across the province?

No — Saint John and Moncton each grew faster than the provincial figure, at more than 15%. The 10.1% describes New Brunswick as a whole, and other regions grew more slowly than either city to produce that blended figure.

Why doesn't this page state New Brunswick's lien holdback percentage?

Because it could not be confirmed from a source proven to distinguish a real legislative provision from a fabricated one in this environment. Rather than guess, this page names the gap and points a New Brunswick contractor to counsel for the current figure.

Takeaways

  • • New Brunswick construction employment grew 10.1% in 2024, with Saint John and Moncton individually outpacing the province at more than 15% each — a real, city-differentiated figure.
  • • A joint health and safety committee is mandatory once a New Brunswick workplace regularly employs 20 or more workers, with equal representation left to agreement rather than a fixed committee size.
  • • No New Brunswick lien-holdback figure is stated here because none could be confirmed from a reliable source; see Nova Scotia's page and the BC page for two provinces where the figure is fully sourced.

Keep New Brunswick's safety and federal filing duties current while the market moves fast.

A 30-minute call is enough to see where AI tracks a committee threshold or a T5018 filing date automatically.