Recovering After a Workplace Injury in New Brunswick: A Complete Guide

What should I do first after a workplace injury in New Brunswick?

Tell your employer, then see a doctor and say the injury happened at work. Report to WorkSafeNB rather than assuming your employer's report covers you. What to do after a workplace injury in Canada walks through the first steps that apply wherever you were hurt.

Then call Advocates Services on 1-844-530-0282 and ask what they can do for you. It's free, they work for you, and the tribunal itself recommends that you appeal with an advocate rather than alone. Making that call early costs nothing and changes how the rest of this goes.

How long do I have to appeal in New Brunswick?

Two stages, and you must complete the first before the tribunal will hear you.

The seven day window is the one to watch. It applies to health and safety decisions rather than to your claim, and it's short enough that by the time you've found the right form you may already be late.

The ninety day review limit runs from the date on the decision letter rather than from when you opened it. The Decision Review Office also doesn't review decisions made before 1 January 2020.

Full dates and forms are on our New Brunswick WorkSafeNB appeal deadlines page, and Injury claim denied in Canada covers how to read the decision letter itself before you respond to it.

Can I have more than one decision reviewed at once?

Yes, and this is the best feature of the New Brunswick system. You can add up to ten decisions to a single review application, provided they all relate to the same claim number.

Should I file my own notice of appeal?

If you're appealing with the help of an advocate or a lawyer, do not file your own notice of appeal. Your representative files it on your behalf. Filing it yourself as well creates confusion in a file that's already complicated, and it's a mistake made almost entirely by people trying to be conscientious.

If you do choose to appeal without help, be ready to talk about the sections of legislation and the policies that apply to your issue, because that's the level the tribunal works at.

How long will it actually take?

Longer than the deadlines suggest. It can be several months before a hearing is even scheduled, and several months more before a written decision arrives. Plan around that rather than being blindsided by it, and keep recording symptoms and expenses throughout, because the record doesn't pause while you wait.

If your job comes under pressure while you're waiting, can you be fired while on a workers compensation claim sets out what a dismissal during an open claim has to answer for.

What should I be writing down?

Three things.

• Every decision you disagree with, with the date on the letter. Up to ten of them can go into one review application, so the list is worth keeping properly.
• Every symptom you reported and to whom. A symptom nobody was told about doesn't reach the file that the reviewer reads.
• Every conversation about your claim or your return to work. Date, who, what was said, who else was there.

Our free Resource Hub has fillable trackers for symptoms, appointments, correspondence and return to work. Why documenting your recovery matters explains what a record actually does once a decision is contested.

Who can help me for free?

Advocates Services provides free help to workers on workers' compensation matters, from filing through to the hearing itself. Call 1-844-530-0282. There's a parallel Office of the Employers' Advocate on the other side.

The Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal is independent of both WorkSafeNB and the provincial government, and it publishes its own guidance and forms. WorkSafeNB sets out the review process and the Decision Review Office rules.

What else is worth reading?

These go deeper on the parts of a claim people ask about most.

• How much does workers compensation pay in Canada
• What to do after a workplace injury in Canada
• Why documenting your recovery matters
• Injury claim denied in Canada, what to do next
• Can you be fired while on a workers compensation claim
• Emotional recovery after an injury

More in Workplace Injury Recovery and Appointments and Assessments.

Which guides do I actually need?

The two guides do different jobs and each is weaker alone. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide holds the daily record: your symptoms, your appointments, your calls and your costs, kept through the months a hearing takes to arrive. The New Brunswick Workplace Injury Companion Guide holds the system: the deadlines, the forms, the boards and the route through the Decision Review Office then the Appeals Tribunal, in plain language. With only the record you have no map. With only the map you have nothing to put on it.