In Hayes v. The City of Saint John, 2025 NBKB 58 ("Hayes"), the New Brunswick Court of King's Bench considered two competing individual issues protocols ("IIPs") to determine the remaining individual issues in a historical sexual abuse class action after liability to the Class had been established.[1]
The court rejected both parties' proposed IIPs, instead drafting its own protocol which it provisionally ordered pursuant to section 29 of New Brunswick's Class Proceedings Act[2] (equivalent to section 25 of Ontario's Class Proceedings Act, 1992[3]) subject to providing the parties an opportunity to provide input.[4]
Justice Stephenson's reasons reflect the fact that there is no cookie-cutter approach to fashioning an IIP. Class proceedings legislation provides the court with broad discretion to fashion a bespoke process that is sensitive to the specific needs of the class in each case, short of delegating the determination of individual issues to a third party.