text: Looking to 2014 and beyond, population growth, fuelled in part by the $25 billion, 25‑year, Irving Shipbuilding Contract, is predicted to increase 
  demand for rental product and absorb the new supply. In addition, Nova Scotia’s offshore oil industry has potential for growth with BP and Shell 
  both launching seismic surveys off the province’s coast. 
  
  New Brunswick’s rental market also experienced softness over the last year. As CMHC reported in its Fall 2013 Rental Market Report, the overall 
  vacancy for the province’s urban centres was 8.9% for october 2013, 200 bps higher than october 2012. cmHc reported Fredericton as the 
  strongest of the larger centres in new Brunswick, with 6.2% vacancy (compared to 4.0% for october 2012), while the weakest market was saint 
  John, with CMHC reporting 11.4% vacancy in Fall 2013 compared to 8.7% for 2012. CMHC reported Moncton with 9.1% vacancy for October 
  2013, compared to 6.7% a year earlier, with new supply to the market contributing to the vacancy rise. 