New Brunswick

Ombud NB (Office of the Ombud)

New Brunswick has no separate dedicated Privacy Commissioner; the Ombud, an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly, handles access-to-information and privacy oversight alongside its broader complaints-investigation mandate. On information and privacy specifically, the office reviews complaints from individuals dissatisfied with how a right-to-information request was handled, or who believe their privacy was breached by a public body or a health information custodian, and it also handles requests concerning public records held in the Provincial Archives. Its services are free, confidential, impartial, and independent of government, with authority to make recommendations and issue public reports.

Laws and regulations administered (information and privacy mandate):

• Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RTIPPA) — governs access to records and personal information handling by public bodies.
• Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act (PHIPAA) — governs personal health information held by custodians.
• Archives Act — governs public records held in the Provincial Archives.

The Ombud also administers the Ombud Act, the Public Interest Disclosure Act, and the Civil Service Act, but these fall under its administrative-fairness, whistleblower, and favouritism mandates rather than its information and privacy mandate.

Other provincial legislation of note

• An older, narrower Protection of Personal Information Act (SNB 1998, c P-19.1), which had covered core government departments and select Crown corporations, no longer appears in New Brunswick's current statute database — suggesting it has been repealed or superseded by RTIPPA, though an explicit repeal citation was not located.
• No dedicated New Brunswick biometrics or digital-identity law, and no AI-specific regulatory statute, has been identified.
• Bill 23, An Act Respecting the Prescription Monitoring Act — received Royal Assent June 6, 2025. Expands the province's prescription-drug-monitoring database beyond pharmacists to nurses, midwives, optometrists, and podiatrists; mandates electronic prescriptions for monitored drugs submitted to a central network, including patients' Medicare numbers and full prescription details; permits the Minister to disclose information to law enforcement on reasonable grounds of a violation; and allows reciprocal data-sharing agreements with other jurisdictions' monitoring programs. No organized opposition was found.
• Bill 17, An Act Respecting Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs — received Royal Assent June 6, 2025. Lets peace officers demand that anyone reasonably believed to be a gang "member or associate" leave a licensed premises, and demand photo ID from any patron to make that assessment, with a broad definition of "associate" (presence during gang crimes, gang symbols, frequent association with known members). Similar liquor-act "bar check" provisions in other provinces have drawn Charter challenges; no NB-specific challenge or named critic was found for this bill.

Pending and proposed legislation

• New Brunswick's Department of Finance and Treasury Board completed a legislated review of RTIPPA, releasing a report in June 2026 that recommends stronger transparency and accountability, enhanced privacy safeguards, and improved right-to-information operations. The government has indicated it intends to introduce new legislation informed by this review in spring 2027.