Press Hits

On May 28, 2025, members of ACORN NB and several local unions gathered at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre in Fredericton to deliver a report to Rene Legacy, Minister of Energy, and John Herron, Minister of Natural Resources. The report, titled “Crumbling Apartments in a Warming World: Tenants in an energy cost crisis,” notes that renters are at a much higher risk of energy poverty than other demographics in Canada, meaning that many low and moderate income Canadians cannot afford their energy bills. ACORN NB Chair Nichola Taylor explained that energy poverty often means that low-income people are left without adequate air conditioning in the summer or heating in the winter, which can have potentially deadly consequences. Frederictonians are particularly susceptible to energy poverty, as NB Power raised rates by 9.7% in April and still allows winter cutoffs if a customer is unable to pay their bill, a practice Nichola described as “outrageous.” NB Power responded to Nichola’s criticism by asserting that cutting a costumer’s power in the middle of winter is a last resort, and customers are encouraged to communicate with the company to find a solution to financial barriers.

New Brunswick’s rent cap, introduced after the Liberals won last fall, will remain at three per cent for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Housing Minister David Hickey announced in the legislature Wednesday. “Many landlords can be incredibly creative when it comes to getting their money,” said Nichola Taylor, chair of ACORN New Brunswick, a tenants’ advocacy group. “So we need to make sure that these loopholes are closed and that tenants have better protections in this province.” She said the cap has brought stability and been a “breath of fresh air” for renters, but she’s also looking forward to the fall review.

The summer forecast is HOT, the air conditioning frenzy has begun and one tenant advocacy group wants landlords on the hook for keeping their homes from becoming a sauna.

Local advocates are renewing their calls for a bylaw that would prevent renters from losing their homes and protect them from bad landlords.Known as a ‘renoviction,’ the term refers to the practice of forcing a tenant out of a building, citing the need for extensive renovations or repairs in the unit.On Monday, more than a dozen people took their fight to Kitchener City Hall, hoping to grab the attention of councillors and city staff.“People need a renoviction bylaw passed,” said Ryan Murdock, secretary of the Waterloo chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). “They need it passed now. They needed it passed yesterday.”

While the Nova Scotia government has no plans to regulate a type of lease that’s been called a loophole in the province’s rent cap legislation, some real estate listings are advertising fixed-term leases as a financial benefit for potential buyers. Tim Allenby, chair of the Dartmouth chapter of tenant group ACORN, said he’s not surprised by this marketing tactic. “It’s the incentives of the system that currently exists,” Allenby told CBC News in an interview. “They have it set up in such a way that landlords benefit from primarily relying on fixed-term leases, so of course that’s going to end up being an investment benefit.”

“It’s a big problem,” says Marcia Bryan, chairperson for the Cooksville chapter of Peel ACORN, an independent social and economic justice organization comprised of low- and moderate-income residents. “It’s a problem I’ve dealt with myself, especially last summer. When it’s hot, it’s hot and when it’s cold, it’s cold in here.” Bryan and other ACORN members recently appeared at Celebration Square in Mississauga to highlight the findings of a recent report, released by the advocacy group, that indicates that 44 per cent of low- and moderate-income tenants lack access to air conditioning, often because they cannot afford it.