MONCTON – New Brunswick’s landlords are calling on their tenants to tell party leaders to scrap the double property tax imposed on rental properties through a campaign called “Stop Double Tenant Tax.” They’ve promised a three-year rent freeze that would save the average renter $1,800 if the province scraps the tax.

Killam REIT’s Vice-President for Marketing and Program Development Jeremy Jackson said it’s an issue that affects housing affordability.

“This should be something that residents should be concerned about because it’s absolutely affecting the affordability of where they live. We are doing our part as property owners and managers, but we would like to have the voices of the people come forward and say this is not fair,” said Jackson in an interview with Huddle.

“The voices of the people are the real strength. They can go on the website, learn more and understand more about what’s going on, and let the politicians know that this is a meaningful thing for them, that this is something that’s unfair and it’s been going on for years,” he added.

Killam REIT, which owns over 4,300 rental units in New Brunswick’s three largest cities, is among the landlords from the New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association (NBAOA) that are pushing for the change.

Currently, apartment owners are taxed by their municipality and then again by the provincial government for all non-owner-occupied residential buildings. New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that does so.

The NBAOA said taxes for non-owner-occupied apartments in New Brunswick are almost twice as high as those in the rest of the Maritimes, and more than 2.5 times higher than those in the rest of the country. And this gets passed on to the 250,000 tenants in the province.

Not only that, it also hinders investments in the province, Jackson said.

“Killam is a publicly traded REIT. We spend anywhere between $150 million and $250 million a year in investments. And when you have a tax regime like the one that’s in New Brunswick, we have options,” he said. “We have been investing more in Ontario, some in Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and out west, but not in New Brunswick. There’s a number of factors, but clearly, the double taxation is absolutely not helping the province.”

The New Brunswick Real Estate Association (NBREA) is also advocating for changes to the province’s property tax system, including scrapping the double tax and making land transfer taxes fairer.

“Double taxation is unfair. It means the 250,000 New Brunswickers who rent are paying more than they should, because the tax is ultimately paid by tenants through their rent. It’s also bad for our province’s economy, because it discourages real estate investment and business development,” said Kari McBride, the Chair of the NBREA’s Government Relations Committee, in an opinion piece.

“All property should be taxed in the same way – it’s just common sense. That’s why New Brunswick’s REALTORS are calling for an end to double taxation.”

She also said property value assessments are “out of touch” with reality and doesn’t match market values.

The NBREA is calling for a comprehensive review of the province’s property tax system, including outdated legislation, to ensure New Brunswick follows best practices and is competitive in the global market. They suggest the creating of a task force that includes government and non-government members to recommend changes to the property tax system.

“We are heartened to see our recommendations endorsed by key stakeholders like the Chambers of Commerce, Cities of New Brunswick Association, New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association, and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association New Brunswick,” McBride said.

New Brunswick’s landlords are hoping that this election will bring about change to the tax regime.

“The communications between the landlords and the province has been going on for years. We’ve had multiple discussions and meetings with them over the years. It was finally decided about 12 months ago that we really have to make this a campaign issue. And that’s why we’ve done what we’ve done,” Jackson said. “It’s to really try to bring it to the people. The government will only listen so much to a particular voice. I think the people need to stand up and be counted for.”