FAQs

Updated Census Data

Housing Needs Assessments rely on key datasets - most notably, the Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada every 5 years. The last Housing Needs Assessment was completed using data from the 2016 Census, and much has changed since that time. 

Between 2016 and 2021, Fredericton’s population is estimated to have grown by 8% to 67,625 residents, and the trend has continued over the past 3 years. Some estimates place the City’s current population at approximately 73,000 residents. Growth is occurring across all age groups, but the highest rate of growth was seen among seniors ages 65 to 84 (+21% over the 5 year period) and adults between 25 and 44 (+9%).

New residents

A big driver of the recent population growth has been new residents who have moved to Fredericton from within New Brunswick, Canada and other countries. In the last 2 years, Fredericton welcomed almost as many people internationally as the previous 5 years combined. These totals are likely to shrink as a result of new immigration targets, but it remains a question 

Changing Trends in Households

Fredericton has seen a change in the sizes of its households. 

From 2016 to 2021, total households increased 9%. There is a growing trend in single and two-person households across most age categories, but especially among senior demographics.

Households with 5 or more people also saw an increase of 14% since the last Census. This is likely the growth among multigenerational family households as well as an increase in unrelated roommate households.

Between Census periods, total renter households grew 18%, with noticeable growth amongst couples without children. 

Housing Need

Renter households are also most likely to be in housing need. The 2021 Census reported that about 5,175 renter households (or 31% of all renter households) could not reasonably afford their shelter costs. This is more than double the number of owner households who lived in unaffordable circumstances.

Although housing need is commonly viewed from the perspective of affordability, it also extends to inadequate housing (i.e. where dwellings are in need of repair) and unsuitable housing (where dwellings don’t match the needs of the household - i.e. not enough bedrooms or bathrooms for the number of people).

Housing supply

In 2022 and 2023, Fredericton completed substantial volumes of housing units (according to CMHC), more than the previous 5 years combined. About 78% of new construction since 2016 has been purpose-built rental units. At the end of 2023, there were 1,183 units under construction, with the majority (960) being rental units.

Despite the addition of units, Fredericton still had a vacancy rate of 1.3% in 2023. The low vacancy rate has also been accompanied by a rise in rent prices, with the overall median rent rising over 29% between 2020 and 2023.