New Brunswick housing minister says rent cap update incoming

New Brunswick will make an announcement about the rent cap in the coming days.

David Hickey, the minister responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, said the province will provide an official announcement regarding the future of New Brunswick’s three per cent rent cap in the coming days.

“I believe there are still the indicators in the market that need to maintain the rent cap as it is,” he said on Wednesday.

The comments follow new Statistics Canada data showing a 5.1 per cent rise in the rental cost of two-bedroom apartments in Fredericton for the first quarter of 2026, compared to the same time in 2025.

Nationally, census metropolitan areas reported a 0.9 per cent decrease in two-bedroom apartment rents, while cities like Vancouver and Kingston, Ont., reported larger decreases of 2.2 and 5.9 per cent.

Hickey points to 1,600 new units in Fredericton and tenant turnovers as driving factors for the local increase.

“Five-point-one per cent in the face of the past six years of having nearly a 50 per cent increase in rent in the province is a pretty stark difference,” he said.

“That’s why the rent cap has been so important, because it’s really offering tenants that maintain their tenancy with stability over the long term.”

The province is also in the process of reviewing its Residential Tenancies Act.

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