Property assessment and appeals in New Brunswick

New Brunswick has a centralized assessment and collection system. Service New Brunswick "is responsible for the classification and assessment of all real property in the province", and the Department of Finance and Treasury Board bills and collects all property taxes, including local government taxes.

Under Assessment Act s. 15, all real property "shall be assessed at its real and true value as of January 1 of the year preceding the year for which the assessment is made". SNB describes this as the price the property would likely sell for on the open market on that date. Assessors look at location, local sale prices, floor area, lot size, finished basements, construction quality, age, garages and, for income properties, the income generated.

Each notice shows two figures. The property assessment is the market value. The value for taxation is the figure rates are applied to, after any reduction such as the spike protection mechanism, the 2026 freeze, the Assessment Reduction Program for charitable and non-profit owners, or the Housing Development Incentive Program, which phases in assessments on newly built apartment buildings with two or more units and on existing buildings refurbished to add rental units.

The Province and local governments then apply their rates per $100 of the value for taxation (see property tax in New Brunswick). Under the reforms the Government is proposing for the 2027 tax year onward, its reform page says assessments "are mainly used to determine your share of the total tax burden", with new local and provincial rate stabilizers.

SNB mails a real property assessment notice to every owner each year, to the last known mailing address. "Property assessment notices are mailed in January"; the 2026 notices were mailed on January 19, 2026. If a property changes during the year, the owner may also get an amended notice.

The notice shows the property's classification, the Property Account Number (PAN), the Parcel Identification Number (PID), the location and description, the local government or rural district, the property assessment (market value) and the value for taxation. A message at the top of 2026 notices showed whether the property benefited from the freeze. The bottom section gives the Request for Review deadline, and the notice carries a MyPropertyOnline Access Key needed for online services.

The notice is not a tax bill. The Department of Finance and Treasury Board mails bills each year in March (March 2 in 2026). The Act allows notices to be made available electronically (s. 21(1.001)), and the Government's reform plan lists online notices through the SNB portal as a proposed change.

Property Assessment Online (PAOL) is SNB's free public lookup. It finds a property by address, PAN or PID, or on a provincial map. It shows the current assessed value, assessment values going back four years, tax levy information and sale prices for the property and nearby properties. Sale prices are listed only for properties sold after January 1, 2009, and SNB says to allow 30 days after closing for a sale to appear.

SNB's Understanding your notice page explains each part of the notice, and a copy of a lost notice can be requested online or by calling 1-888-762-8600.

2026 freeze. Assessment Act s. 15.72 deemed each property's 2026 assessment to be its 2025 amount. Exceptions were new construction or improvements, property sold or transferred in 2025 (except as prescribed), corrections of errors or omissions, a change of use or classification, and a decrease in assessment. Market values were still calculated, and SNB said 90% of owners would see the same value for taxation as in 2025. The freeze applied to the value, not the bill, so local rate changes could still change taxes.

Spike protection mechanism (2025, and 2027 onward). Section 15.8 applies in 2025 and later years "other than in the year 2026" and limits the assessment to the lesser of market value and a value calculated under the regulations. It does not apply to property covered by s. 15.71 or to certain utility, pipeline and wind-turbine property (s. 15.8(2)). SNB says that for 2027, eligible properties are protected from increases "where any increase greater than 10 percent is phased in over time". Recent sales, new construction, major improvements and properties valued under specific legislation are excluded.

Owner-occupied homes. Section 15.71 applies in the same years (2025 and later, other than 2026) to property assessed in the name of a person entitled to the residential property tax credit under s. 2.1 of the Residential Property Tax Relief Act for all or part of it. The assessment is the lesser of market value and K = [(Lp – Mp) × 1.1] + P + N: the prior capped value of the credit portion multiplied by 1.1, plus the value of new construction and improvements to that portion (P) and the market value of any portion not entitled to the credit (N). When the property is transferred, it is assessed the following year at market value, except in circumstances prescribed by regulation (s. 15.71(6)).