In its March 26, 2020 decision of Province of New Brunswick
v. Grant Thornton, 2020 NBCA 18, the New Brunswick Court of
Appeal expanded the "discoverability principle" as
enumerated in s. 5 of the New Brunswick Limitation of
Actions Act, SNB 2009, c L-8.5. Section 5(2) holds
that, for general limitation periods, a claim is discovered on the
day on which the claimant first knew or ought reasonably to have
known:
- that the injury, loss or damage
occurred,
- that the injury, loss or damage was
caused by or contributed to by an act or omission, and
- that the act or omission was that of
the defendant.
Writing for the Court, Drapeau, JA held that the general
limitation period does not begin running until "knowledge,
actual or imputed, of facts that accord
the claimant a legal right to a judicial remedy for the
defendant's loss-causing act or omission" is acquired
(para. 101). This broad interpretation counters what has routinely
been thought of the
