Free New Brunswick Horse Bill of Sale
New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, and a horse bill of sale here should be readable by both parties in the language they actually contract in — a French-only or English-only document handed to someone who reads the other is the province's most avoidable dispute. The regulatory picture is otherwise light: no brand inspection, no manifest system, horses as personal property. The federal layer is what bites — CFIA's digital EIA (Coggins) certification since December 2021, and the Atlantic region's CFIA import oversight is headquartered right here in Moncton.
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New Brunswick Horse Bill of Sale — What You Need to Know
Tax Details
Horses are personal property in Canada. GST/HST may apply if the seller is a GST registrant (farm or business). Private individual-to-individual sales are typically GST/HST exempt.
Exemption: Private sales between individuals are generally exempt from GST/HST. Purchases from a registered GST farm may attract 5% GST.
Inspection Requirements
No provincial inspection is required for a horse sale, though a pre-purchase veterinary exam is strongly recommended.
New Brunswick Horse Sale — Step-by-Step Checklist
- Write the bill of sale in the language both parties read — or produce it bilingually. New Brunswick's bilingual reality makes comprehension a contract-validity issue, not a courtesy.
- Record the horse's complete identity: names, breed, colour, markings, microchip or tattoo, age, sex, registration number.
- Obtain the current digital EIA (Coggins) certificate — mandatory digital certification since December 2021.
- Moving the horse across a provincial line? Arrange the veterinary health certificate for interprovincial movement.
- State price, deposit, and warranty terms explicitly — as-is or specific soundness representations.
- Book the pre-purchase exam and hand over vaccination records with the horse.
- Transfer breed-registry papers; both parties keep signed copies of the document they each can read.
Common Pitfalls
- Handing a unilingual contract to a party who reads the other language: in a bilingual province this is the fastest route to a "he did not understand what he signed" argument.
- Relying on a paper Coggins: CFIA requires digital EIA certification since December 2021.
- Skipping the interprovincial health certificate: New Brunswick horses move constantly to Nova Scotia and Quebec, and the certificate is expected for that travel.
- Leaving soundness claims verbal: common-law contract means the written words decide the outcome.
Pro Tip
New Brunswick keeps the rules light and the language question real: a bill of sale both parties can read, a digital Coggins, a health certificate for travel. That is the whole file.