New Brunswick WorkSafeNB Appeal Deadlines
The dates that govern a WorkSafeNB claim in New Brunswick. Free. No email required. For anyone injured at work.
New Brunswick runs two tracks with very different clocks. One gives you ninety days and then a full year. The other gives you seven days. Knowing which letter you are holding matters more here than in any other province.
AT A GLANCE
| You have | To do this | Counting from |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | Appeal a Chief Compliance Officer decision, health and safety track only | Receiving that decision |
| 14 days | Appeal an order, advice or penalty to the Chief Compliance Officer | Being given it |
| 90 days | Request a review of a claim decision by the Decision Review Office | The original decision date on the letter |
| 1 year | Appeal the DRO decision to the Appeals Tribunal | The date of the DRO decision |
How long do you have to request a review?
Ninety days from the original decision date, and that date is printed on the letter WorkSafeNB sent you. Not the day it arrived. The date on the letter.
It goes to the Decision Review Office, which operates independently of case management and adjudication and reports to WorkSafeNB's Associate General Counsel rather than to the people who made the decision.
The review is compulsory. You cannot appeal to the tribunal without a DRO decision first. Skipping the step is not an option, so start here even if you expect it to fail.
Can you challenge more than one decision at once?
Yes, up to ten of them in a single application. Use the Add Another Decision option in the Decision Review section. They must all relate to the same claim number.
That is unusual and genuinely useful. Where a claim has gone wrong it is rarely one letter, and most provinces make you file separately for each. Keep every decision letter with its date, because this is the moment they all become useful at once.
Two limits worth knowing. The DRO does not review decisions made before January 1, 2020. And some things are out of scope entirely, including client service complaints, occupational health and safety matters and privacy concerns, which have their own separate procedures.
What is the seven day deadline and does it apply to you?
It belongs to the health and safety track, not to injury claims. If an order, advice or administrative penalty has been issued, that goes to the Chief Compliance Officer within fourteen calendar days. The Chief Compliance Officer's decision then goes to the tribunal within seven calendar days.
Seven days is the shortest appeal window in Canadian workers compensation. If your letter mentions an order, advice, a penalty or the Occupational Health and Safety Act, treat it as urgent today rather than as part of your injury claim.
How long do you have to appeal to the tribunal?
One year from the DRO decision, and it can be extended in special circumstances. The New Brunswick Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal is independent and quasi-judicial, and a chairperson or panel decides.
Expect it to take time. Written decisions can take several months and up to a year. If a party questions jurisdiction or law after that, the route on is the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick.
If you have a representative, do not file the notice of appeal yourself. The tribunal says so directly. Your advocate or lawyer files it on your behalf, and filing separately creates a mess that costs you time you may not have.
Before you file anything, make sure you have given all relevant information to the person who signed the original decision letter. New information sometimes resolves the issue without an appeal at all.
Who can help you for free in New Brunswick?
The Worker's Advocate, who assists free of charge at every step, from filing through to the hearing itself. WorkSafeNB's own Advocates Services team also helps with the review application and questions about the process, at no cost.
To find a Worker's Advocate
1-844-530-0282
WorkSafeNB general inquiries
1-800-999-9775
If you are worried about how your employer will react to a complaint, the Occupational Health and Safety Act allows employees to complain to WorkSafeNB about retaliation for having filed one.
Were you injured in a vehicle while working?
Then the road accident side applies too, and it carries a deadline that can end a claim in two months if the Crown was involved. Our New Brunswick car accident page sets that out.
Last verified: July 2026
Checked against: WorkSafeNB, Review and appeal, WorkSafeNB's occupational health and safety appeals process, and the New Brunswick Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal.
We give no figure here for the deadline to report an injury in the first place, because we have not confirmed one. Report immediately and ask WorkSafeNB for your own date.
Deadlines change. If you find something on this page that is out of date, write to Recovery@hurtsquare.ca and we will correct it publicly.
Keeping the record these deadlines depend on
New Brunswick lets you put ten decisions into one application. That only helps someone who still has all ten letters and knows what each one said.
Two things decide how an injury claim goes. What you wrote down and whether you did the right thing at the right time for where you live. The National Recovery Guide handles the first, the daily record of symptoms, appointments, calls and costs that a claim is eventually judged on. The Provincial Companion Guide handles the second, the deadlines on this page and the forms, boards and appeal routes behind them. People who have only one tend to end up with a careful record aimed at the wrong process, or the right dates and nothing to put in front of them.
Your Recovery. Documented. Protected.
See the New Brunswick Workplace Injury Companion Guide
This page is general information for people in New Brunswick. It is not legal or medical advice. Rules differ by province and change over time. Confirm anything specific to your situation with a representative, WorkSafeNB or a Worker's Advocate.