The chief justice of New Brunswick has announced his retirement.

J. Ernest Drapeau is stepping down in April from the role he was appointed to in March 2003.

Drapeau said in a statement he advised the federal minister of justice and New Brunswick attorney general on Jan. 8 he will cease to hold office April 2. At that time, he will elect to be a supernumerary judge.

"It has been an honour, a privilege and a challenge to hold that office and to perform the duties associated with it, at all times in service of my fellow citizens," Drapeau said in the statement.

"The time has come to move on."

The process to identify a successor has been launched, the statement said.

The Campbellton native and father of three daughters was admitted to the New Brunswick bar in June 1974. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1990 and then to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in 1998.

Drapeau served as a francophone judge prior to his appointment as chief justice. In 2011, he became the first chief justice of New Brunswick to be appointed vice-chair of the Canadian Judicial Council.

In 2013, he was awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal.