Organizers with the New Brunswick chapter of ACORN are calling for the provincial rent cap to be reinstated.
The 3.8 per cent cap expired at the end of 2022, leaving many tenants in the province in a precarious position, said ACORN chair Nichola Taylor.
“This leaves a lot of people vulnerable to the high increases in rent that we are already seeing,” said Taylor.
“It affects all people in New Brunswick who are renting, but especially seniors on fixed incomes, and it’s affecting people living with disabilities … so we just need some law in place that helps these people.”
About a dozen people gathered outside the office of Jill Green, minister responsible for housing, Thursday afternoon to call for the cap to be brought back.
Taylor said the rent cap helped provide security to tenants, especially those living paycheck-to-paycheck.
She said the rising cost of living is forcing people to make difficult decisions about their lives.
“Do I pay my rent? Do I pay for my food? Or do I pay for my utilities?” she said.
Taylor is also calling for stronger regulations around renovictions, and a “complete overhaul” of the Residential Tenancies Act.
“It’s very outdated, and it’s not reflecting the times that we’re living in — especially these high cost of living (times) that we’re living in,” she said.
The average rent across the province went up by about 10 per cent last year and the vacancy rate is 1.9 per cent.
Hany Sherif, who attended Thursday’s protest, said he was recently renovicted from his apartment over “minimal” renovations.
While he complained to the residential tenancies tribunal, he said nothing was done. Sherif wants to see a stronger system in place to protect tenants from renovictions, saying it’s a “wild west” right now.
“It’s just a free-for-all, (the landlord) can just do whatever he wants,” he said.
In a statement, provincial spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said the province will “continue to examine and address housing issues in our province and will introduce more measures if necessary.”
He said any tenant who needs help with a tenancy matter should call the Residential Tenancies Tribunal at 1-888-762-8600.
“Housing is a complex issue and there are a variety of factors being monitored in any decision being made,” he said.
“In terms of rental units, we understand there are some tenants facing increased rents and there have been many new measures introduced in the past two years to protect tenants, including the ability for the Residential Tenancies Tribunal (RTT) to phase in rent increases that are comparable to similar units in the same area. Rent amounts that are not comparable to similar units in the same area will be denied.”
Macfarlane said tenants should apply to have their new rent amount reviewed if they believe it is “not reasonable compared to similar units in their area.”
He said those applications can also provide data for real-time information on rental market conditions.
— with files from Silas Brown
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