New Brunswick rental market data
New Brunswick’s three metropolitan areas moved in different directions in CMHC’s October 2025 survey. Moncton’s vacancy rate went from 1.5% to 3.9% and Fredericton’s from 0.9% to 2.5%, while Saint John’s went from 4.0% to 1.9%. For the province as a whole, vacancy was 2.9% and the average 2-bedroom rent $1,368. The surveys are explained in how these figures are measured.
| Measure (October 2025) | New Brunswick | A year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Vacancy rate | 2.9% | 2.0% |
| Average 2-bedroom rent paid | $1,368 | $1,285 |
| Turnover rate (units with a new tenant in the year) | 13.2% | 14.1% |
| Rent change for the same 2-bedroom units (fixed sample) | 5.3% | 6.4% |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Table 1.0 (apartments in privately initiated structures of three or more units, centres of 10,000 people or more).
Average rent by city (New Brunswick)
| Centre | Vacancy rate, October 2025 | A year earlier | Average 2-bedroom rent paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moncton | 3.9% | 1.5% | $1,453 |
| Saint John | 1.9% | 4.0% | $1,290 |
| Fredericton | 2.5% | 0.9% | $1,413 |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Table 1.0 (apartments in privately initiated structures of three or more units). Ottawa-Gatineau is split by province.
Moncton has the largest rental stock of the three: CMHC counts 19,095 purpose-built rental units there, against 11,425 in Fredericton and 11,001 in Saint John, out of 46,868 in the province’s surveyed centres. Moncton’s vacancy rate is the highest of the 6 Atlantic centres in CMHC’s table, and Saint John has the lowest 2-bedroom rent of New Brunswick’s three, $1,290.
New Brunswick against other provinces
At $1,368, the provincial 2-bedroom average on CMHC’s three-units-and-over survey is 12% below Canada’s $1,550 and ranks fourth-lowest of the 10 provinces. Same-unit rents went up 5.3%, faster than the national 5.1%. The turnover rate, 13.2%, is the highest in Atlantic Canada.
What new tenants pay in New Brunswick
CMHC splits each centre’s rents into units that changed tenants during the year and units where the tenant stayed. For a 2-bedroom:
| Centre | Re-let to a new tenant | Tenant stayed | Gap per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moncton | $1,503 | $1,378 | $125 |
| Saint John | $1,428 | $1,247 | $181 |
| Fredericton | $1,564 | $1,363 | $201 |
| New Brunswick | $1,477 | $1,307 | $170 |
Source: CMHC Rental Market Report data tables, Table 6.0, October 2025.
Statistics Canada’s listings data for the second quarter of 2026 put the average 2-bedroom asking rent at $1,460 in Moncton, $1,530 in Saint John and $1,670 in Fredericton. Saint John’s listings are 18.6% above what its tenants pay on average, Moncton’s 0.5% above.
Income and rent in New Brunswick’s cities
CMHC considers housing affordable when it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income, counting the rent (or mortgage payments, property tax and condo fees) plus electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. The figures here count the rent alone, so with utilities the income needed is higher. The table sets the income that each average 2-bedroom rent calls for beside the area’s median household income from the census, which is for 2020 and includes homeowners.
| Area | Average 2-bedroom rent paid | Income for that rent at the benchmark | Census median household income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moncton | $1,453 | $58,120 | $74,500 |
| Saint John | $1,290 | $51,600 | $74,000 |
| Fredericton | $1,413 | $56,520 | $79,000 |
| New Brunswick | $1,368 | $54,720 | $70,000 |
In Fredericton, the income the average rent calls for is 28% below the median; in Moncton it is 22% below. Run other rents through the rent affordability calculator.
Rules on rent increases in New Brunswick
- Rent can't go up more than 3% every 12 months, and not in the first 12 months of a tenancy.
- Landlords must give 6 months' written notice.
- With permission, a landlord can raise rent up to 9% for justified renovation costs.
- A tenant who gets a notice can accept it, end the tenancy, or ask the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office for a review within 60 days.
Source: New Brunswick government.
At the cap, Moncton’s average 2-bedroom could go up by $44 a month in a year, or $131 with permission for renovation costs. CMHC’s same-unit rent change for Fredericton, 5.2%, is above the cap because CMHC’s measure includes units newly leased to new tenants.
Deposits
- The deposit can be up to one week's rent for a week-to-week lease, and up to one month's rent for a month-to-month, year-to-year or fixed-term lease.
- A landlord can ask for the first month's rent and a deposit, but not the first and last month's rent.
- A landlord who collects a deposit must submit it to the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office within 15 days.
- At move-out, each tenant named on the Certificate of Deposit applies separately for the return of their share.
See also rent increase rules by province and how to get a security deposit back.
Other Atlantic provinces: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island.
Related pages
- Moncton Housing Market: home prices in Moncton
- New Brunswick Housing Market: provincial home prices
- Average Income in New Brunswick and New Brunswick income percentiles
- Halifax Rental Market: the largest Atlantic rental market
Sources
- CMHC Rental Market Report data tables: Tables 1.0, 5.0 and 6.0
- Statistics Canada table 46-10-0092: quarterly average asking rents
- Statistics Canada table 98-10-0061: 2021 Census household income
- New Brunswick rules on rent increases