Housing - Election 2024

The record population increase Moncton has experienced in the past four years has created a huge demand for housing. Developers are trying to build more units but are hampered by high interest costs and provincial taxation rules that hinder new construction. 

This has created an imbalance in housing supply and demand, with the current vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent at an historic low. Not surprisingly, the cost of building new and the cost to renters has risen significantly, causing an even greater affordability crisis.

In the past five years:

  • the average cost of a home increased by 65 per cent 
  • average rents have increased by 40 per cent 

Cities like Moncton have taken the unprecedented step of entering the housing sector. Moncton was a national leader when it committed $6 million to Rising Tide Community Initiatives to build supportive housing for homeless and marginalized individuals. Moncton has built a housing support program under the national Housing Accelerator Fund that includes more flexible zoning and incentives. But there is only so much fiscal room for a municipality to play in housing.

Estimates show that Greater Moncton has an immediate need for 3,286 new housing units, with an annual need moving forward of 1,826, including 900 units in Moncton alone. 

What Moncton needs

1 - Remove the provincial portion of HST on new multi-residential developments for at least two years. Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have done this and consequently, their number of housing starts per capita are between two and three times greater than in New Brunswick. Moncton City staff and developers have reported that while the market is in dire need of housing, projects have “stalled” in recent months.

2 - If provincial property tax is transferred to the City, the municipality would then be able to work with the province to lower the rate for non-owner-occupied dwellings (double tax) to be more competitive with our counterparts across Canada. As it now stands, the combination of regular residential and provincial property tax means renters of a new apartment in Moncton pay more than 40 per cent more per unit in property tax than renters in Halifax. This extra tax burden goes directly to their monthly rent costs.

3 - Partnering through infrastructure funding that will assist Moncton to open its emerging growth areas, which have been identified through the city’s Urban Growth Strategy.

4 - Establish an Urban Housing Strategy for New Brunswick’s largest urban centres that supports housing need and affordable housing targets.

5 - Housing for All timelines need to be accelerated and the financial commitment to housing increased. Provincial policies should be changed to allow integrated housing in current NB Housing segregated developments.

6 - More authority over some portions of the Community Planning Act to enable housing (i.e. density bonusing, inclusionary zoning).

7 - Allow Moncton to develop an incremental tax on underdeveloped land, especially in the downtown core. We need to create incentives to convince big landowners to build.

8 - Create a land bank of provincially owned land that can potentially be used for housing.

9 - Integrated housing development (with multi-levels of government support) in the downtown. This can be achieved through enhancing the power/ability of Housing NB.

10 - The next provincial government needs to be a willing partner on infrastructure and urban planning.

11 - Create a registry for short-term rentals and allow municipalities to develop a tax.