News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – More than 477,000 property assessment notices for the 2023 assessment year have been mailed to property owners.

New Brunswick’s overall assessment base – the total value of property assessments in the province – is $81 billion, an increase of 10.9 per cent, or $8 billion, since last year. This provincewide increase is due largely to a strong real estate market and new construction.

“New Brunswick continues to experience a strong real estate market and a growing population,” said Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson. “Local governments will need to take these assessment increases into consideration when setting their property tax rates for next year.”

Service New Brunswick is responsible for the assessment of all real property in the province. Property assessment is a vital component in the process of real property taxation and local government financing. Actual property tax bills, which factor in a property’s assessment, will be issued by mail March 1, 2023.

“Property assessors investigate and analyze all real estate sales annually and exclude from adjustments any that do not meet certain criteria,” said Wilson. “Although some homes have been selling well above the asking price, one sale does not make a market.”

Assessors are qualified individuals that use appraisal industry best practices in determining real and true market value of all properties. Assessors reflect the values that have been established by buyers and sellers in local real estate markets across the province. This is the most common method used in North America today.

A spike-protection mechanism is in place for most owner-occupied residential properties with an assessment increase greater than 10 per cent. This does not apply to new construction, properties that have been sold in the previous year, or those that have undergone major improvements.

This mechanism was implemented in 2013 to protect eligible property owners from significant one-year spikes in their assessment.

Additional measures have been implemented over the past year to help property owners manage recent increases in property tax due to rising assessments. These include:

• A property tax relief program for eligible residential rental properties (four units or more) and non-residential properties (businesses/industry) for 2022 and 2023.
• A reduction in provincial property tax rates over three years, starting with the 2022 taxation year. This features a 50 per cent reduction for non-owner-occupied residential properties and a 15 per cent reduction for non-residential properties and other residential properties.

Property owners have until November 2, to file a request for review if they do not agree with their assessment.

Homeowners can expect to receive their assessment notices this week. Local governments received their financial information for budgeting purposes, including tax base information, from the Department of Environment and Local Government last week.

Local governments that are not restructuring will set their property tax rates during their fall budgeting process. For restructured entities, the tax rates will be set by the minister of local government and local governance reform.

To learn more about property assessment, call 1-888-762-8600 and ask to speak with a Service New Brunswick representative or visit www.myNBpropertyassessment.ca.