The provincial Liberals are preparing to put forth legislation that would cap rent increases in the province.
The official opposition plans to table a bill amending the Residential Tenancies Act in the fall session, tying the percentage that a landlord can boost rent to the Consumer Price Index every year, and capping it at 2.5 percent a year.
"This will protect the consumers, renters. This isn't reinventing the wheel. They do it in P.E.I., they do it in Ontario, they do it in Quebec. Keep it like 2.5 percent [increase], you cannot go over that during the year and that prevents the prices of apartments to skyrocket," says Robert Gauvin, the official opposition critic for social development and MLA for Shippagan-Lamque-Miscou.
Currently, there's no limit on how much or how often a landlord can increase rent, as long as they give tenants three months' notice.
On the other hand, vacancies have continued to tighten in New Brunswick, especially in the three largest cities.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the vacancy rate dropped from 3.2 percent in October 2018 to 2.6 percent in October 2019.
The vacancy rate last fall in Moncton was 2.2 percent, 1.4 percent in Fredericton, 3.3 percent in Saint John, 4.2 percent in Bathurst and 1.6 percent in Miramichi. Only Campbellton and Edmundston saw vacancy rates go up, to 4.4 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
Gauvin said he's heard from New Brunswickers whose rent is set to increase 30-to-60 percent in a year, and one said their rent would increase from $450 to $700 in January.
He said low vacancy rates mean demand is driving prices up, but that's making housing unaffordable for people who are working jobs that pay $14 per hour. Gauvin also said that he's concerned property buyers from Ontario are driving prices higher.
"I understand the free market, I get that. But there is a way to make sure that we don't leave people out on the streets," he said.
Media outlets, including Huddle, have reported similarly significant increases in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton. Megan Mitton, MLA for Memramcook-Tantramar and the Green Party's critic for Service New Brunswick, says it a rural problem, too..