Vote for Housing in New Brunswick’s 2021 Municipal Election

A non-exhaustive list of policy proposals for municipalities

Housing is a growing challenge for people living in New Brunswick’s cities, towns and rural communities. Of special concern during the COVID-19 pandemic is the fact that New Brunswick tenants are facing steep rent hikes with no rent control or the kinds of tenant protections found in other Canadian provinces. All this with a low-to-zero vacancy rate in some communities. Adding to this distressing situation, New Brunswick lifted its short-lived ban on COVID evictions on May 31, 2020.

Starting from the principles that housing is a fundamental human right and that housing is a key determinant of health, municipal governments have a responsibility to guarantee adequate housing for all of its residents. While the provincial government is primarily responsible for housing, municipal governments have a key role to play in ensuring that residents are housed safely and with dignity. Through planning, zoning, spending choices and collaborations, municipalities can be part of the housing solution. 

Municipalities must recognize their role in protecting the human right to housing.

The New Brunswick Coalition for Tenant Rights is calling on all 2021 municipal candidates to support and be champions of our 11-point “housing for all” plan.

Besides supporting the following 11 municipal actions on housing, all candidates vying to be a mayor or councillor should be vocal advocates for tenants, their future constituents. They should support the urgent need for province-wide rent control and other tenant protections as well as a provincial moratorium on evictions during COVID and a rent relief program to subsidize rent for those in need.

1. Work with all levels of government and diverse community partners to maintain and expand non-profit housing and cooperative housing

Municipal governments should prioritize spending on housing and collaborate with all levels of government, including making optimal use of federal and provincial funding and resources for housing to maintain, upgrade and expand non-profit housing stock. Non-profit housing stock should meet local demographic needs, which will require that it be diverse and include social housing, cooperative housing, transitional housing with peer support workers (people with living/lived experiences), and shelters. To this end, municipalities should collaborate with co-operatives, land trusts, service providers, non-profits and governmental agencies.

2. Plan for affordable housing through inclusionary zoning and variances

Municipalities should have an affordable housing plan and prioritize the amending of by-laws, the re-zoning of areas and use of variances for inclusive and affordable housing, transitional housing with peer supports, and shelters. Public land and freed-up land should be deemed potential affordable housing sites. Municipalities can also adopt a “use it or lose it” policy that enables municipalities to expropriate abandoned or derelict properties and transform them into affordable housing units.

Municipalities should require all new housing developments, such as apartment buildings and condos with five or more units, to have at least 20 per cent affordable housing. To eliminate uncertainty in provincial legislation governing municipal authority, municipalities should demand legislative clarity from the province to enact inclusionary zoning policies.

Before obtaining a construction permit, builders must sign an agreement with the municipality regarding affordable housing supply, including obligations along with various compliance options such as transfer of land in exchange for financial compensation, price ceilings on the sale or rental of housing, and financial contributions.

Municipalities should also require that housing developers invest in green spaces and other amenities that make the neighbourhood a liveable space.

3. Enact a by-law on rental property standards of maintenance that requires housing to be safe, accessible and energy efficient

Municipalities should enact rental property standards of maintenance that require existing and new affordable housing to be safe, accessible and energy efficient. A proactive inspection system should be put into place that does not place responsibility on the tenant to file a complaint. To deal with unsafe overcrowded housing conditions, municipalities should support a tenant’s move to affordable housing. Existing and new affordable housing stock should take advantage of provincial and federal capital funding to invest in safe, accessible and energy efficient housing.

4. Restrict and regulate short-term rentals such as Airbnbs

To avoid short-term rentals from displacing current inhabitants and making communities unaffordable to live, municipalities should plan rental-only zones and implement short-term rental regulations that protect tenants. Short-term rental regulations can be designed to protect long-term rental housing while also allowing residents to earn additional income from renting out a room in their home.

5. Develop a landlord licensing by-law and rent registry

Municipalities should require landlords of a certain size to register and acquire a license to be a landlord. A repeat offender landlord should stand to lose their license to manage properties, and should be faced with stiff penalties payable to the city. The licencing regime should include a public rent registry so that tenants can know the amount of rent paid by the previous tenant.

6. Develop a rental property licensing by-law to prevent evictions

Municipalities can enact legislation that prevents evictions, renovictions and demovictions and protects tenants during periods of displacement due to renovations or re-development of properties.

7. Improve data collection, analysis and dissemination of information on housing

More robust data collection and analysis on housing needs of residents must ensure that progress on housing is being tracked, housing policies and programs are being improved, and housing needs are being met. The specific housing and health needs of populations facing precarious housing situations must be tracked and addressed. 

8. Engage tenants in their housing matters

Municipalities should create inclusive municipal housing committees that empower and engage tenants in matters affecting their housing. A municipal housing committee must include tenants, people with lived experience of precarious housing, non-profit housing providers and builders, labour unions, academics and organizations working with vulnerable populations. Municipalities can also fund tenant organizations to help level the power imbalance between landlords and tenants.

9. Genuinely consult with Indigenous communities

Municipal governments in New Brunswick should seek the free, prior and informed consent of the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq and Passamaquoddy peoples, including First Nations, Traditional Councils, and Indigenous organizations such as the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council, in matters of municipal planning, including housing and land use.

10. Pilot a municipal non-profit rent bank

Municipalities can administer rent banks to provide assistance to people struggling with meeting the costs of housing. There is currently $25 million in unclaimed rental deposits sitting with the province of New Brunswick that could be used for such a rent bank to be administered by the province or the municipalities.

11. Explore the creation of a housing corporation

Municipalities can create housing corporations to own and manage housing. Toronto Community Housing Corporation provides affordable housing for residents. The Saskatchewan Housing Corporation provides housing to families and seniors with low incomes and people with disabilities, administered locally and municipally. Local housing authorities could administer social housing programs throughout the province.