New Brunswick Proposes Property Assessment Freeze for 2026

On May 6, 2025, New Brunswick’s Finance and Treasury Board announced a proposed one-year assessment freeze for the 2026 taxation year to allow the provincial government to continue to study property tax reform. The new government campaigned on the issue of tax reform last fall. As housing costs in the province have skyrocketed, residential property assessments have followed suit, and taxpayers whose assessments have risen by more than the average have seen significant tax increases as a result. If passed, the proposed legislation will freeze assessments at the 2025 level for one year, except in the case of new construction, improvements, errors, or changes in use; decreases in assessment value; or properties sold in 2025.

The freeze will not reduce property taxes and may not prevent tax increases. Most municipalities are faced with rising costs, and if the assessed value of new construction does not raise the additional tax revenue required, property tax rates will need to be increased to fund municipal operations and services. Unfortunately, taxpayers may not challenge property tax rates. Furthermore, the freeze will not address the issue of fairness and equity in New Brunswick’s assessment process. Indeed, a freeze will move assessments away from true market value and exacerbate any inequities between taxpayers. 

However, the freeze should provide the government with more time to implement meaningful tax reform and, hopefully, consider the following changes:

• Amending the property assessment legislation to require equity between similar properties—as is the case in most of Canada—and allow taxpayers the ability to challenge the classification of real property
• Improving the technology used by assessors and introducing a true mass appraisal system
• Addressing the current taxation inequity between homeowners and renters

Further details on New Brunswick’s proposal are provided in the Finance and Treasury Board News Release. If you have any questions about how the assessment freeze or property tax reform might impact your nonresidential real estate, please contact your Ryan representative.