A New Brunswick court ruling has made same-sex marriage legal in that province.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Judith Clendening ruled that common-law marriage was the union of "two persons" -- not a man and a woman.

The ruling came in the way of a June 15 application before her by lawyer Alison Menard, who was acting on behalf of four same-sex couples.

"The point is that equal rights are now in this province of New Brunswick," Art Vautour-O'Toole told ATV News in Moncton on Thursday.

"People will be recognized, the ones that were married out of the province, and people can now go out and get married legally in this province. And to me, that's worth all the fight and agony that we went through."

Brad Green, New Brunswick's justice minister, told reporters: "What the court has said here in New Brunswick is that the traditional definition of marriage is no longer the law, that any two individuals can get married."

The court gave the province 10 days to make any necessary administrative changes, he said.

Clendening's ruling followed similar decisions by courts in seven other provinces and Yukon, that the traditional definition violated the equality provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (Nunavut decided on its own it will change the law to allow for equal marriage.)

However, Clendening cited only a decision from Newfoundland that made same-sex marriages legal in that province.

Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Prince Edward Island are now the only jurisdictions where same-sex marriages aren't the law.

If the federal government manages to get Bill C-38 passed this summer, same-sex marriage will be become the law all across the country.