New Brunswick Rent Increase Notice Form: What Landlords Must Include

What the Notice Must Contain

New Brunswick doesn't require a specific government-issued form for rent increase notices, but the Residential Tenancies Act mandates that every notice include six content fields. Miss one and a Residential Tenancies Officer can set aside the entire increase.

The mandatory fields:

1. Full legal name of the tenant(s) — as it appears on the lease agreement
2. Property address and unit identifier — civic address plus the specific unit number
3. Current monthly rent — the baseline amount the tenant is paying now
4. New monthly rent — the proposed amount after the increase takes effect
5. Effective date — the exact calendar date the new rent begins
6. Date and signature — when the notice was issued and the landlord's (or authorized agent's) signature

The Separate Document Rule

This is where most landlords make mistakes. Under Section 11.1(2)(b) of the Act, the rent increase notice must be a standalone document. It cannot be:

• Combined with a lease renewal
• Attached to a maintenance update
• Included alongside a receipt
• Embedded in a general notice to quit
• Part of any other correspondence

If a tenant challenges the increase and the landlord can't prove the notice was served as a separate document, the officer must set it aside under Section 11.1(2.04). That voids the increase and forces a fresh notice with a new six-month waiting period. A standard tenancy review deadline is 60 days; a mobile home site tenant has 15 days under Section 25.4(3).

The safest approach: one sheet of paper (or one electronic document sent to the tenant's electronic address given in the lease), containing only the rent increase information. Nothing else on the page.

Where to Get a Template

The current Government of New Brunswick forms index lists the Standard Form of Lease and applications for assistance, but does not list a rent increase notice form. The Residential Tenancies Act sets the content requirements for a rent increase notice.

Commercial template services like LawDepot also offer New Brunswick-specific notice builders, though these typically charge a fee and may not reflect the latest legislative amendments.

Whether you use a third-party template or draft your own letter, the legal requirements are the same: all six fields present, standalone document, served with proper notice.

Common Mistakes That Invalidate Notices

Bundling the notice with a lease renewal. The most common error. A landlord sends a new lease with a clause stating the rent will increase — this violates the separate document rule and the notice is void.

Missing the effective date. Writing "rent will increase next month" instead of a specific calendar date leaves the notice ambiguous and vulnerable to challenge.

Wrong tenant name. If the lease lists "John Smith" and the notice is addressed to "J. Smith," a strict officer might view this as a defect. Use the exact name from the agreement.

Forgetting to sign. The notice needs the landlord's signature or the authorized agent's signature. An unsigned notice is incomplete.

Sample Notice Structure

A compliant notice looks like this (adapt to your situation):

Notice of Rent Increase

To: [Tenant full name] Property: [Civic address, Unit #] Current monthly rent: $[amount] New monthly rent: $[amount] Effective date: [Month Day, Year]

This notice is served in accordance with Section 11.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act.

Date: [Month Day, Year] Signature: _______________ [Landlord name or authorized agent]

Keep it clean. One page, one purpose, no extras.

For the full process — from calculating whether you're eligible to raise rent through serving the notice and handling a tenant review — see our Rent Increases in New Brunswick guide.

See more New Brunswick guides →