New Brunswick’s Liberal government is moving quickly to honour some of its election commitments.
The government introduced two pieces of legislation on Wednesday aimed at improving affordability.
The first would cap rent increases at three per cent annually as of Feb. 1, 2025.
“Access to affordable housing for New Brunswick renters is urgently needed,” David Hickey, the minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, said in a news release.
“This measure will help protect renters from rapidly increasing housing costs, eliminate surprise rent hikes and, most importantly, keep new Brunswickers housed.”
Landlords are already required to give tenants six months’ written notice of a rent increase. In addition, they can only give notice of a rent increase once every 12 months.
Any tenant who is served a notice of rent increase of more than three per cent can contact the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office for a formal review.
The rent cap program will be evaluated annually, according to the provincial government.
The second piece of legislation would remove the carbon adjuster from gasoline and diesel prices.
It is estimated that removing the carbon adjuster would save New Brunswickers about four cents per litre at the pumps.
“Removing the cost of carbon adjuster, along with other measures like a rent cap and removing the equivalent of the provincial sales tax on electricity bills, are all aimed at making life more affordable here in our province,” Finance Minister René Legacy said in a release.
If approved, the change would take effect when the bill receives royal assent in mid-December.
