Rents in New Brunswick over the past year (from March 2020 to March 2021) have climbed by 4.8 percent – the highest jump in the country according to figures released this week by Statistics Canada.
Aditya Rao, an organizer with the N.B. Coalition for Tenants Rights, says rents in New Brunswick have increased at almost twice the rate of the other Atlantic Provinces.
“Inflation was 2.2 percent which means that rent increases have far outpaced inflation… and the minimum wage only increased by a nickel,” noted Rao.
The coalition has released a report outlining 11 policy proposals aimed at municipal election candidates and what municipalities can do to protect tenants rights and advance affordable housing.
The group believes municipalities have a responsibility to act on housing despite what many municipal leaders have claimed.
“Every level of government has a responsibility to protect and promote human rights… and housing is a human right. This means that municipalities should be looking for ways to do as much as they possibly can on housing – not as little as they think they are permitted to do,” said Rao.
The coalition’s report addresses what municipalities can do about falling vacancy rates, rent increases, homelessness and long waits for public housing.
