Press Hits

Data shows the cost of rent in New Brunswick has grown at a slower rate than in several previous years, coinciding with slowing population growth, increased housing supply and legislation capping rent increases at three per cent.

“We’re starting to see rent growth in New Brunswick moderating. It’s coming down,” said Kelvin Ndoro, an economist with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The rise in rent observed in New Brunswick last fall was the most modest it’s been in three years, according to findings by the CMHC in its annual rental market survey done last October.

Darcie Lanthier, director of the Energy Democracy Now Co-Operative on Prince Edward Island, says her group is organizing a province-wide fight against two PROENERGY diesel-burning turbines that the privately-owned utility Maritime Electric wants installed in Charlottetown.

During a lively meeting in Moncton on Saturday jointly organized by Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition and the New Brunswick chapter of the social and economic justice group ACORN Canada, Lanthier praised those fighting against NB Power’s proposed 500 MW gas plant on the Chignecto Isthmus.

Mayor Olivia Chow says her election-year budget’s focus on financial relief for property owners does not come at the expense of renters and homeless Torontonians.

Chow, whose 2026 proposal unveiled last week includes spending restraints to hold the property tax hike to 2.2 per cent, said Tuesday: “You will see, beginning this week, everything we are doing for renters.

“It’s a substantial amount of investment.”

She made the comment in response to a question after announcing a boost in funding for the city’s rent bank, which provides no-interest loans or grants to help people escape eviction and get back on their feet financially.

Regarder: ACORN Toronto à 9:10.

City of Waterloo council will consider the implications of implementing a bylaw to protect tenants from ‘renovictions’ next Monday, but staff note that it could be costly for taxpayers.

A renoviction occurs when a landlord evicts a tenant by claiming they will complete renovations, which range from complete overhauls to a simple paint job, in order to increase the price of rent when searching for a new tenant.

Toronto is more than doubling its budget for free air conditioning following one of the hottest summers on record.

On Thursday, the city unveiled its 2026 operating budget, which includes a fare freeze and cap for public transportation. While the city’s 2.2 per cent tax increase for property owners was one of the most anticipated sections — much smaller than last year’s 9.5 per cent — many were also waiting to see what would come of the free AC unit program.