According to an April 7 news release, the New Brunswick Housing Corporation’s Tenant and Landlord Relations Office commenced “engagement sessions” last year with various stakeholders to see what parts of the province’s Residential Tenancies Act are working and what parts are not.
The Act, which lays out tenant-landlord laws in New Brunswick, has remained “relatively unchanged” since being passed in 1975, states the release.
This comes as the province continues to grapple with a housing affordability crisis.
In the release, New Brunswick’s minister responsible for the housing corporation said the engagement sessions “identified many gaps, inconsistencies and outdated provisions” in the Act.
“It’s clear from these consultations that the … Act needs to be brought up to date, and that people want to stay involved in shaping those changes,” said David Hickey in a statement. “We’ll keep listening in the months ahead to make sure we get this right for tenants, landlords and communities.”
The release goes on to note that meetings with “industry stakeholders” will continue, and a new online survey will allow residents to provide information and ideas.
“Feedback collected through this process will help inform revisions to the Act, which are expected to be introduced during the fall sitting of the legislature,” it states.
Residents can participate via the online survey, which will be open April 7 to May 8.
A separate information page notes the housing corporation has flagged potential amendments when it comes to protections for tenants and landlords, stronger enforcement, clearer rules, improved processes, fair rent and housing affordability.
It notes the consultation is open to tenants, landlords, advocacy groups, property management companies and housing organizations, as well as the general public.
In late 2024, New Brunswick moved to counter its housing woes by introducing a three per cent rent cap for the province. The cap was set to take hold Feb. 1, 2025.
The cap prohibits landlords from increasing rents by more than three per cent annually and makes it so they must give tenants six months’ written notice of an increase.
At the time, the province encouraged tenants to report landlords who raised rents above the cap.
In June 2025, it was announced the cap would be kept in place for the entire 2025-26 fiscal year in a bid to stave off the “displacement of tenants” in the province.
According to the Human Development Council’s 2025 State of Homelessness report, there was a 210 per cent increase in homelessness when it came to New Brunswick’s three major cities between March 2021 and March 2025.
In March 2021, 493 people in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John experienced homelessness for at least one day. By March 2025, that number had risen to 1,529.
The report also found that New Brunswick has experienced some of the highest rent increases in Canada, with rent in that province rising 34.7 per cent between 2020 and 2024.
At the same time, the report pointed to low vacancy rates, with the rate dipping to two per cent in 2024.
“New Brunswick has been grappling with a growing set of challenges in recent years,” it states. “Since the [COVID-19] pandemic, the province has faced an escalating housing crisis alongside unprecedented affordability struggles.”
The report also pointed to the province’s high low-income rate as a contributing factor.
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