The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties.

The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick is vested with a number of governmental duties and is also expected to undertake various ceremonial roles.

[5] At these events, the lieutenant governor's presence is marked by the lieutenant governor's standard, consisting of a blue field bearing the escutcheon of the Arms of His Majesty in Right of New Brunswick surmounted by a crown and surrounded by ten gold maple leaves, symbolizing the ten provinces of Canada.

The office of lieutenant governor of New Brunswick came into being in 1786, when the colony of New Brunswick was split out of Nova Scotia and, at the same time, the government of William Pitt adopted the idea that the new jurisdiction, along with Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, should have as their respective governors a single individual.

The shortest mandate by a lieutenant governor of New Brunswick was John Boyd, from 21 September 1893 to 4 December 1893, while the longest was David Laurence MacLaren, from 1 November 1945 to 5 June 1958.