New Brunswick Eviction Timeline — How Long Does Eviction Take and When Does the Sheriff Step In?

There Is No Quick Eviction in New Brunswick

If you're expecting to hand a tenant a notice and have them out within a week, the Residential Tenancies Act has a different plan. New Brunswick's eviction process runs through an administrative tribunal. Deliberately interfering with heat, water or electricity is an offence under Section 3.1, except in an emergency or when needed for maintenance or repairs; changing locks during occupancy without mutual consent or the RTO's written authorization is an offence under Section 18.

The real question isn't whether the process can be fast. It's how long each stage actually takes, and where the delays tend to land.

The Timeline Stage by Stage

Stage 1: Serving the Notice

The clock starts when you serve a valid notice. How long that notice must run depends on the ground and tenancy type:

• Nonpayment of rent: The Notice to Vacate gives the tenant 7 days to pay the full arrears. If they pay, the notice is voided and the tenancy continues.
• Personal use or conversion (week-to-week tenancy): at least 1 week's notice, effective on the last day of a rental week.
• Personal use or conversion (month-to-month tenancy): at least 1 month's notice, effective on the last day of a rental month.
• Personal use or conversion (year-to-year tenancy): at least 3 months' notice, effective on the last day of the tenancy year. For long-term tenancies, Section 24.6 requires at least 3 months before the end of a month.
• Fixed-term tenancy: ends on the agreed end date; no landlord notice is necessary for that expiry.
• Renovation (Section 24.13): get prior written RTO approval first; the notice period then follows Section 24(1), or Section 24.6 for long-term tenancies.

For a notice under Section 24.12, the RTO must set it aside if the landlord cannot establish a listed ground, but may confirm it and vary the termination date if the landlord establishes that ground.

Stage 2: The Tenant Doesn't Leave

When the notice expires and the tenant remains, you file a Landlord Application for Assistance with the Residential Tenancies Tribunal through Service New Brunswick. The Office confirms receipt and assigns a case number within one business day.

All cases are prioritized; the most urgent are handled first. The processing time for a decision depends on the Tribunal's caseload.

Stage 3: Investigation and Decision

The Tribunal contacts the tenant and allows them to provide evidence. The office attempts mediation; if the parties do not reach a solution, the Residential Tenancies Officer investigates and decides whether the eviction will proceed.

The Officer issues a decision and may issue an Eviction Order (Form 9) after the investigation. This stage can take several weeks depending on scheduling, complexity, and whether additional documentation is requested.

Stage 4: The Eviction Order (Form 9)

After the RTO investigates the landlord's application, the Officer may issue Form 9, the Eviction Order, under Section 21. The non-refundable $75 fee is for Sheriff services to carry out the order; it can be paid through Service New Brunswick after the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office approves the payment.

Stage 5: Sheriff Enforcement

Only a Residential Tenancies Officer or judge has authority to order an eviction. A Sheriff carries out the Eviction Order; the landlord cannot physically remove a tenant.

Sheriff scheduling depends on the district and workload. The enforcement itself is typically a matter of days once scheduled, but the queue to get scheduled varies.

Realistic Total Duration

For a nonpayment eviction where everything goes smoothly: 7-day cure period + application processing + RTO investigation and decision + Sheriff enforcement. Realistically, this stretches to 6–12 weeks from the date you serve the initial Notice to Vacate.

For a no-fault termination (personal use, conversion, renovation): the notice period depends on the tenancy type, and only then does the holdover process begin if the tenant stays. Total elapsed time can easily reach 8–10 months.

A notice that an RTO sets aside may need to be served again. A tenant who disputes the notice and files within the 15-day window adds weeks to months while the RTO reviews the stated reason.

Where Landlords Lose Time

The most common delay is a notice that doesn't meet statutory requirements — wrong form, miscounted dates, or inadequate service proof. The second most common is incomplete documentation at the application stage, which sends the landlord back to gather evidence while the tenant remains in the unit.

The Ending a Tenancy in New Brunswick guide walks through each stage with worked date-calculation examples, a service proof log, and the documentation checklist for RTO applications — the pieces that keep you from losing weeks to avoidable errors.

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