Housing unaffordability in Fredericton has 'worsened at a dramatic pace,' new report says

Aidan Cox · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A caller study is highlighting the increasing disparity betwixt income levels and lodging costs successful Fredericton, wherever the median location merchantability terms has risen by 85 per cent successful conscionable 5 years.

In 2019, a household earning $100,000 would person been capable to spend 93 per cent of properties listed that year.

Last year, that aforesaid household would person been capable to spend conscionable 29 per cent of spot listings, according to Fredericton's latest lodging needs assessment, conducted by consultants with Turner Drake and Partners Ltd.

"That was a existent stark statistic for maine due to the fact that we often perceive that from our residents and peculiarly the younger demographic that's having a hard clip accessing that market," said Coun. Jason Lejeune, subordinate of the city's affordable lodging committee.

The analysis of affordability is adjacent bleaker for households earning $60,000. In 2019 they'd person been capable to spend 60 per cent of spot listings, compared with conscionable 3 per cent of spot listings past year.

Renting has besides go much expensive, with households earning $40,000 lone capable to spend 16 per cent of leasing opportunities past year, down from 47 per cent successful 2019.

The lodging needs appraisal is the city's latest effort to get a snapshot of the affordability of housing, and whether the metropolis has capable units to support up with demand.

It comes astir 4 years aft an appraisal successful 2021 recovered the metropolis needed 2,500 affordable lodging units, 1,500 subsidized units, and 50 exigency structure spaces.

"While identified successful the anterior assessment, issues related to affordability person worsened astatine a melodramatic pace," the consultants accidental successful the enforcement summary of the latest lodging needs assessment.

The results were partially based connected surveys taken of 899 people, arsenic good arsenic interviews and absorption groups done successful December and January.

Housing units needed outpacing existent starts

Census information amusement Fredericton's colonisation grew 8 per cent from 2016 to 2021. 

While different census hasn't yet been taken, Statistics Canada estimates Fredericton's colonisation grew to 77,500 past year — a 14 per cent summation since 2021.

With that, the city's existing shortfall of lodging stands astatine 3,010 units, including 2,235 units of subsidized housing, 655 units of wide market-rate lodging and 120 units oregon beds of "safety nett housing" to code the stateless population.

In summation to that figure, Fredericton volition request different 10,385 lodging units by 2034 based connected colonisation forecasts.

That means the city will request astir 1,340 units built per twelvemonth for the adjacent 10 years, nevertheless caller figures for lodging starts person fallen abbreviated of that, and are adjacent trending down.

In 2022, lodging starts deed a grounds high of 1,299, but dipped ever since to 1,002 successful 2023 and 749 conscionable past twelvemonth — the lowest they've been since 2020.

Despite the trend, Lejeune said helium thinks it's "realistic" the metropolis volition beryllium capable to deed the needed fig of caller lodging units.

"But we're going to person to determination a full batch of levers to bash it, and we've started to bash so."

Lejeune said caller zoning changes to let residential lodging wrong commercialized areas and four units successful homes crossed the metropolis volition assistance thrust the instauration of caller units.

"There's nary 1 hole to the issues that are retired there, but we've got a batch of levers that we tin determination and propulsion around, truthful we're going to bash our part."

Lejeune said the study volition spell to the city's readying department, and a gathering volition beryllium held with the consultants to sermon whether the city's plans align with what the lodging needs appraisal revealed.

"I deliberation the bully quality for Fredericton is that, you know, we've done a batch successful the past 4 years since the archetypal lodging needs appraisal was done," said Ken Forrest, the city's manager of planning.

"And I deliberation we're seeing advancement successful immoderate cardinal areas, particularly with, you know, leveraging immoderate of the Housing Accelerator [Fund] wealth and making a batch of the zoning changes that Coun. Lejeune talked about."