The New Brunswick government is following the lead of other provinces and giving two of its offices new, gender-neutral names.

Legislation was introduced Thursday to change the Office of the Rentalsman to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal, and the Office of the Ombudsman to Ombud New Brunswick.

"This is a symbolic change, but an important one, as it lets the women of New Brunswick know all offices and opportunities are equally open to them," Finance Minister Cathy Rogers said in a statement.

The government plans to review all job titles and rename any gendered ones.

"Studies have indicated that using job titles that are not gender-specific promotes greater participation of female candidates and reduces gender stereotyping and discrimination," the statement said.

Women's Equality Branch still needed

Rogers told reporters the government is "in the process of doing a number of things to encourage gender inclusivity and there are still some other terms and titles that are used and the Women's Equality Branch is certainly looking at these."

She did not say if the province's Women's Equality Branch will be renamed for gender balance.

"One day, maybe when we get women to be fully equal, maybe we won't need the Women's Equality Branch," she said.

"But for now, the Women's Equality Branch still has a fair bit of work to do to work toward obtaining full equality for women."

Saskatchewan adopted a gender-neutral name for its "rentalsman" office in 2006, while "ombudsman" is being phased out in other jurisdictions, such as Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and British Columbia.

Ombudsman, a Swedish word, is technically gender-neutral but is commonly perceived as a male term.

"Language use evolves constantly to reflect changes in society," New Brunswick ombud Charles Murray said in the statement.

"Using a gender-neutral term reflects the reality of our work and the people who do it," he said. "Everyone benefits when we avoid gender stereotypes in the workplace."