The short answer
Saint John's Dog Control By-law requires a licence for every dog ($10 spayed/neutered, $25 intact, with proof of distemper and rabies vaccination), a leash any time your dog is off your property, cleanup everywhere, controlled barking, and no biting. Enforcement runs through the Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue (506-633-1228), fines are recorded against repeat offenders, and the city maintains five off-leash dog parks where the leash rule lifts.
Heads up: This article is informational and is not legal advice. It reflects what the City of Saint John publishes as of July 2026, and rules change. For the official wording, read the by-law on the City's website or call the Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue at 506-633-1228 with enforcement questions.
Saint John's dog rules live in the Dog Control By-law, and the city's summary of it fits on one page: licence your dog, leash your dog, pick up after your dog, keep the barking down, and make sure it never bites. Simple rules. The details are where the tickets come from, and Saint John has produced some memorable tickets. In 2019, CBC reported on a Saint John owner fined $5,000 across 20 by-law violations, at the minimum $250 per count.
The structural quirk worth knowing: Saint John does not run a standalone municipal animal-control department. The Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue on Bayside Drive enforces the Dog Control By-law under contract, sells licences, and takes bite reports. The same organisation also runs the adoption floor, which is why compliance and rescue culture are unusually intertwined here.
For new adopters the compliance path is short. Every dog in the Saint John rescue network arrives fixed and vaccinated, which lands you the $10 licence rate and satisfies the vaccination-proof requirement in one stroke. From there it is a leash and a pocket full of bags.
Licensing: Every Dog, $10 or $25
All dogs in Saint John must be registered and licensed. The fee schedule has exactly two lines:
| Dog | Annual Licence |
|---|---|
| Spayed or neutered | $10 |
| Intact | $25 |
Licences are sold at the SPCA Animal Rescue at 295 Bayside Drive, at City Hall, and at some animal hospitals and pet shops. Bring your contact information, your dog's details, and proof of distemper and rabies vaccination. The 2.5x gap between the rates is the city's standing nudge toward sterilisation; our Saint John spay and neuter guide covers the surgery side of that decision.
The full registration walk-through, including what happens if your paperwork is thin, lives in our Saint John pet licensing guide, so we will point you there rather than repeat it.
The Leash Rule: Off Your Property Means On a Leash
The rule: your dog must always be leashed when it is off your property, everywhere in the city, unless you are inside a designated off-leash area. The City states that the by-law is enforced by fines and that offences are recorded, which means a second ticket lands harder than the first.
Where people get caught out: the scenic walks. Harbour Passage, the King's Square and Queen Square greens uptown, Irving Nature Park, and 99% of Rockwood Park are all leash-required. A well-behaved off-leash dog on a quiet trail is still an offence; the by-law does not grade on recall.
The exception: the five designated off-leash dog parks below. Inside the designated area, the leash comes off. Between the parking lot and the gate, it stays on.
Winter footnote: the leash rule does not pause for weather. On refrozen January sidewalks a leashed dog is also a safer dog; a loose dog on harbour-fog ice near Reversing Falls is how bad stories start.
The Five Off-Leash Dog Parks
Saint John maintains five off-leash dog parks spread across the west side, the north end, the south end, and out Loch Lomond Road. All of them stock bag dispensers and garbage cans, and all of them expect dogs leashed until they are inside the designated area.
| Park | Location | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| JDI Westside Community Dog Park | 701 Dever Road (behind Peter Murray Arena) | Posted hours, open year round |
| Rockwood Park | 10 Fisher Lakes Drive (Fisher Lakes/Hawthorne Street entrance) | Posted hours, open year round |
| Rainbow Park | 205 Sydney Street | 24 hours a day, year round |
| Chown Park | 50 Paul Harris Street | 24 hours a day, year round |
| Little River Reservoir | 1800 Loch Lomond Road | 24 hours a day, year round |
Rainbow Park, Chown Park, and Little River Reservoir are listed by the City as open 24 hours year round; the JDI Westside park and the Rockwood Park dog park post their hours on site. Check posted signage on arrival.
Cleanup, Barking, and Biting
Cleanup: you must clean up after your dog on any property other than where the dog lives. Saint John has a long civic history with this one; the poop problem once made provincial news, and CBC has reported fines reaching as high as $2,100. Spring melt reveals everything; carry bags year round.
Barking: owners must control barking that might disturb the neighbourhood. Enforcement is complaint-driven. If your dog barks the day away in a Douglas Avenue apartment, assume a neighbour will eventually make the call, and fix the cause before the complaint fixes it for you.
Biting: owners must ensure their dog does not bite or attempt to bite a person. Bites get reported to the SPCA Animal Rescue at 506-633-1228, and the Saint John Police Force (non-emergency 506-648-3333) can also be involved. This is the one rule where the consequences stop being about money.
Who Enforces It, and What Fines Look Like
The enforcer is the shelter. The Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue enforces the Dog Control By-law for the city. Complaints, roaming-dog reports, and bite reports all route to 506-633-1228. It is an arrangement that keeps enforcement close to animal welfare: the officer responding to a roaming-dog call works for the organisation that will house the dog if nobody claims it.
Fines are real and they stack. The City does not publish a fine schedule online, but the court record gives the shape of it: a 2019 case saw the minimum $250 per offence, and an owner who ignored the by-law 20 times paid $5,000. Offences are recorded, so history follows you into the next ticket.
Cruelty is a separate stream. Animal cruelty and neglect concerns go to the provincial SPCA rather than the municipal by-law process. If you see an animal in distress, report it provincially; if you see a loose or nuisance dog, call the Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue.
Browse adoptable Saint John dogs
Every Saint John rescue dog arrives fixed and vaccinated, which means the cheap $10 licence rate and paperwork that is already in order.
See Available Saint John Dogs →Frequently Asked Questions
What bylaw covers dogs in Saint John?▾
The City of Saint John's Dog Control By-law. It requires every dog to be registered and licensed, leashed whenever it is off its own property, cleaned up after, kept from disturbing the neighbourhood with barking, and kept from biting or attempting to bite anyone. Unusually, the by-law is enforced by the Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue rather than a separate city animal-control department. Complaints and dog-bite reports go to the rescue at 506-633-1228, and the Saint John Police Force can also be called for bites.
What is the leash law in Saint John?▾
Your dog must be leashed at all times when it is off your property, unless you are inside one of the city's five designated off-leash dog parks. The City states plainly that the by-law is enforced by fines and that offences are recorded. There is no published leash-length spec the way some cities have, but “leashed and under control” is the standard, and a dog trailing a dropped leash across King's Square does not meet it.
Do I have to license my dog in Saint John?▾
Yes. All dogs in Saint John must be registered and licensed. A licence costs $10 for a spayed or neutered dog and $25 for an intact one, and you need proof of distemper and rabies vaccination to buy it. Licences are sold at the SPCA Animal Rescue on Bayside Drive, at City Hall, and at some animal hospitals and pet shops. Our Saint John pet licensing guide walks through the whole process.
What are the fines for breaking the dog by-law?▾
The City does not publish a full fine table online; it says the by-law is enforced by fines and offences are recorded. Court reporting fills in the scale: CBC covered a 2019 Saint John case where an owner was fined the minimum $250 per offence across 20 violations, $5,000 in total, and has reported that failing to clean up after a dog can draw fines up to $2,100 at the top end. The practical takeaway is that every rule in the by-law is dramatically cheaper to follow than to break.
Who enforces the dog by-law in Saint John?▾
The Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue holds the animal-control role for the city. To lodge a complaint, report a roaming dog, or report a bite, call the rescue at 506-633-1228. For a dog bite or an altercation with a dog owner you can also call the Saint John Police Force non-emergency line at 506-648-3333. Animal cruelty and neglect concerns are a separate stream handled provincially.
Where can my dog go off leash in Saint John?▾
Five designated off-leash dog parks: JDI Westside Community Dog Park at 701 Dever Road behind the Peter Murray Arena, Rockwood Park at the Fisher Lakes/Hawthorne Street entrance, Rainbow Park at 205 Sydney Street, Chown Park at 50 Paul Harris Street, and Little River Reservoir at 1800 Loch Lomond Road. Rainbow, Chown, and Little River are open 24 hours year round; the other two post their hours on site. Everywhere else in the city, including the rest of Rockwood Park, the leash stays on.
Is all of Rockwood Park off leash?▾
No, and this is the most common mistake in the city. Rockwood Park is one of Canada's largest urban parks, but only the designated dog-park area near the Fisher Lakes/Hawthorne Street entrance at 10 Fisher Lakes Drive is off-leash. On the rest of the trail network, around the lakes, and near the campground, the regular leash rule applies. The same goes for Harbour Passage and Irving Nature Park: beautiful dog walks, leash required.
What is the fine for not picking up dog poop in Saint John?▾
The by-law requires owners to clean up after their dog on any property other than where the dog lives, and CBC has reported that fines for failing to scoop can reach $2,100 at the top of the range. Actual tickets vary with the court, but the direction is clear. The off-leash parks make it easy: the City stocks bag dispensers and garbage cans at its dog parks. Carry bags everywhere else too.
What about barking complaints?▾
The by-law requires owners to control barking that might disturb the neighbourhood. In practice this is complaint-driven: a neighbour calls the SPCA Animal Rescue, and an officer follows up with the owner. If your dog is a persistent barker, dealing with the underlying cause (boredom, separation stress, under-exercise) beats waiting for a knock on the door. A tired dog fresh from the Little River Reservoir loop barks less.
What happens if my dog bites someone in Saint John?▾
The by-law requires owners to ensure their dog does not bite or attempt to bite a person, and a bite is the most serious event the by-law contemplates. Report it: the City directs bite reports to the SPCA Animal Rescue at 506-633-1228, and the Saint John Police Force can also be involved. If your dog has shown escalating behaviour, get ahead of it with your vet and a qualified trainer before an incident forces the issue.
Do the dog rules apply in Quispamsis and Rothesay?▾
No. The Dog Control By-law applies inside City of Saint John limits. Quispamsis, Rothesay, and the rest of the Kennebecasis Valley set their own animal-control rules, and Grand Bay-Westfield does the same on the west side. If you live in the valley and commute into the city with your dog, the Saint John rules apply the moment you are walking on Saint John streets. Check your own municipality's site for the rules at home.
My new rescue dog is microchipped. Do I still need a licence?▾
Yes. A microchip is permanent identification; a licence is an annual municipal registration, and Saint John requires both ideas to be satisfied separately. The good news for adopters is that every Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue dog arrives spayed or neutered, which qualifies you for the $10 rate instead of $25, and arrives vaccinated, which covers the proof-of-vaccination requirement at purchase time.
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