If you’ve been feeling the pinch at the checkout, the gas pump, or when your landlord sends the renewal notice, you’re not imagining things. The cost of living is a real and pressing conversation across every province right now — but New Brunswickers find themselves in an interesting, and somewhat mixed, position. Here’s how the province stacks up when it comes to the three biggest daily expenses: groceries, gas, and rent.
The Big Picture
Overall, the cost of living in New Brunswick runs about 8% below the national average. That might sound reassuring, but averages can mask a lot — and the details tell a more complicated story, especially at the grocery store.
Groceries: Cheaper Province, Rising Faster
This is where things get thorny for New Brunswickers.
On one hand, the cost of food in New Brunswick scores well below the Canadian average for affordability — meaning your overall grocery bill tends to be lower here than in, say, Ontario or British Columbia. The monthly cost of food in Moncton runs around $443 per person, which is modest by national standards.
On the other hand, the rate at which those prices are climbing is a serious concern. An analysis by Dollarwise using Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index found that from May 2024 to May 2025, food prices rose 3.7% in New Brunswick — the highest increase of any province in Canada. The national average during that same period was 3.4%.
Looking ahead, the news isn’t much better. Canada’s Food Price Report 2026, produced by Dalhousie University and seven other Canadian universities, forecasts overall food price increases of 4% to 6% this year, with New Brunswick among the provinces expected to see increases above the national average. Food prices are already 27% higher than they were five years ago, and the average family of four is projected to spend $17,571.79 on food in 2026 — nearly $1,000 more than last year.
What’s driving this? Tariff pressures, labour market disruptions from changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, climate-related agricultural disruptions, and global supply chain volatility are all cited as key factors. The concentration of grocery market power doesn’t help either — the top four grocery chains control at least 72% of national market share.
So while New Brunswickers may still be paying less in absolute terms than someone in Toronto or Vancouver, they’re seeing their bills grow faster. That’s a distinction worth paying attention to.
Gas: Feeling the Global Crunch
At the pump, New Brunswick is caught in the same storm as the rest of the country — and that storm is intensifying.
As of May 6, 2026, the national average for gasoline has hit $1.91 per litre, with British Columbia topping the country at $2.12 per litre and Newfoundland and Labrador close behind at $2.05. Even in Alberta, traditionally the cheapest province for fuel, a litre now costs $1.81.
The spike is being attributed in part to disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz following escalating conflict with Iran, which has significantly reduced global oil supply.
New Brunswick has historically landed in the middle of the pack for fuel prices. The province benefits from having an Irving Oil refinery in Saint John — Canada’s refinery capacity is concentrated in Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick, meaning provinces closer to these refineries see lower transportation costs baked into pump prices. That’s a structural advantage that softer regions of the country simply don’t have.
That said, New Brunswick prices are shaped by provincial fuel taxes and carbon pricing, and Canadian gas prices in general vary widely depending on local tax structures, refinery proximity, and market conditions. At the moment, no province is getting off easy.
Rent: One of Canada’s Best Stories
If there’s one clear bright spot in New Brunswick’s cost-of-living picture, it’s housing.
New Brunswick is among the three provinces with the lowest average rents in Canada, coming in at approximately $1,247 per month — just 0.8% higher than the previous year, one of the most stable increases in the country.
To put that in perspective: Vancouver one-bedroom apartments average around $2,830 per month, with some surrounding areas of Metro Vancouver even higher. Rents have risen roughly 58% since 2020 nationally, while wages have grown only around 15% to 20% over the same period.
Within New Brunswick, you can expect to pay about $1,077 per month for a studio, $1,248 for a one-bedroom, and around $1,480 for a two-bedroom apartment. Fredericton and Dieppe tend to be the priciest markets, while Miramichi and Shediac are among the most affordable.
The 30% of gross income threshold — the widely accepted benchmark for affordable rent — is being exceeded by median-income households in British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. New Brunswick is not on that list. That’s meaningful. It means a typical earner here still has breathing room that their counterparts in major urban centres simply don’t.
Rent growth has moderated in 2025 and 2026 as new housing supply has come online and immigration targets have been reduced, easing some of the demand pressure that drove record rent hikes in 2022 and 2023.
The Bottom Line
New Brunswick remains one of the more affordable places to live in Canada — but the word “affordable” is doing more heavy lifting every year. Rents are genuinely competitive with anywhere in the country. Gas prices are volatile everywhere and New Brunswick holds a modest structural advantage. But groceries are where the province faces its biggest challenge: not because food here is the most expensive, but because it’s been getting more expensive faster than anywhere else.
For residents watching their budgets, the takeaway is clear: the savings on rent are real and significant, but don’t expect the grocery bill to give you a break any time soon.
