Images: Warren Maddox of Fredericton Homeless Shelters, Alan Roy of Service New Brunswick, Benoît Bourque of Kent South Liberal MLA, Matthew Hayes of New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights
The Maritime provinces have been striving to address the housing shortage by promoting rapid construction. Surprisingly, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have outperformed New Brunswick, despite the latter's decision to loosen rent protections for tenants in an attempt to boost development.
According to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, New Brunswick witnessed the commencement of construction on 4,547 new housing units between January and December 2023. This marks a 2.8% decrease compared to the previous year. Furthermore, New Brunswick's rate of 545 new housing starts per 100,000 people falls below both P.E.I.'s rate of 655 starts and Nova Scotia's rate of 676 starts per 100,000.
The executive director of Fredericton Homeless Shelters Inc., Warren Maddox, expressed disappointment upon learning these figures. Maddox, who has been advocating for a more urgent government response to the housing shortage, was unaware of the success the other provinces were achieving in initiating new housing projects.
While all three Maritime provinces have prioritized housing construction to meet the demands of their growing populations, the supply has failed to keep pace. The surge in population, which reached 2.1 million people by the end of 2023, has resulted in escalating real estate prices, rising rental costs, and an increase in homelessness.
To counteract this housing crisis, the New Brunswick government estimated the need for 6,000 new housing units annually. They placed heavy reliance on private developers to meet this demand by implementing incentives to stimulate construction. One such incentive, introduced in late 2022, involved the cancellation of rent caps on annual increases for New Brunswick tenants.
The Chief Executive Officer of Service New Brunswick at the time, Alan Roy, testified that developers and landlords had convinced the province that rent caps hindered new construction. However, no independent data regarding the effects of rent caps on housing development was presented. Several provinces, including P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, have rent caps in place without detrimental impacts on housing construction.
Matthew Hayes, a sociology professor at St. Thomas University and spokesperson for the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights, emphasized that the abolition of rent caps in New Brunswick failed to spur housing construction in 2023. He argued that since other provinces with rent caps experienced significant development, there is no reason not to reinstate them.
Julia Woodhall-Melnik, a housing specialist and co-director of the Housing, Mobilization, and Engagement Research Lab at the University of New Brunswick, cautioned against drawing conclusions from a single year of data. However, she noted that the claim that rent caps hinder development seems unfounded based on the current situation in the three provinces.
At present, the New Brunswick government is analyzing the 2023 housing start numbers and has yet to release its findings. Further investigation is required before any conclusions can be drawn.
 Warren Maddox, executive director of Fredericton Homeless Shelters, advocates for faster housing construction in New Brunswick.
 Alan Roy, former Chief Executive Officer of Service New Brunswick, testified about the impact of rent caps on housing development.
 Benoît Bourque, Kent South Liberal MLA, questioned the New Brunswick government's decision to eliminate rent caps.
 Matthew Hayes, spokesperson for the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights, calls for the reinstatement of rent caps.