New Brunswick will hold property assessments at 2025 levels for 2026 as the first step of a promised overhaul of the property tax system. Legislation to enable the measure was introduced in the provincial legislative assembly last week.

The one-year freeze will apply on an estimated 430,000 properties that have not otherwise changed or been sold or transferred to new owners over the course of the year. As well, the Province will offer rental housing landlords and non-residential property owners the option of paying property tax in 12 monthly installments, beginning in 2026. Residential owner-occupiers already have that option.

“These proposed amendments, once passed, will be the beginning of property tax reforms for New Brunswickers,” maintains Finance and Treasury Board Minister René Legacy.

The New Brunswick government promised those reforms during last fall’s provincial election campaign. At the time, Liberal leader Susan Holt, who is now the Premier, suggested the work would begin in 2025 and carry through to 2026.

“Reform of the property tax system is not a short-term project by any means,” affirms Aaron Kennedy, New Brunswick’s Minister of Local Government.