As municipalities across Canada are announcing budgets for the upcoming year, an increase in property taxes has shown to be a common recurring theme — like the 2 per cent to 15 per cent hikes in British Columbia and Ontario.
Zoocasa looked at the tax increases over the past 10 years in six major markets and how this year’s stack up against them.
Calgary and Vancouver: Opposite routes in property tax changes
While both Vancouver and Calgary are proposing more than a 7 per cent increase in property taxes for 2024. However, a closer look at their historical rates reveals contrasting paths.
In 2014, Vancouver’s residential property tax rate stood at 0.367794 per cent, and the proposed rate for 2024 is 0.298925 per cent indicating an 18.7 per cent decline. Although Vancouver’s property tax rate has consistently remained below 0.3 per cent since 2017, the anticipated 2024 rate is poised to be the highest since 2016.
So, homeowners with a property assessed at $500,000 might be looking at approximately $1,495 in property taxes, while those with a $1,000,000 assessment could face around $2,989 in property taxes.
Calgary, on the other hand, has seen a 14.7 per cent increase in the property tax rate since 2016. If the city’s proposed 7.8 per cent increase for this year goes ahead, the rate will rise from 0.657180 per cent in 2023 to 0.70844 per cent in 2024. For a property assessed at $500,000, this would mean shelling out approximately $3,542 in taxes — more than double the amount a Vancouver homeowner would pay for a similarly assessed property.
Winnipeg: Highest rate consistently declines
Despite the fact that Winnipeg has the highest property tax rate among the analyzed cities, it has seen taxes go down by 3.9 per cent since 2014. The residential tax rate, which was 2.8481 per cent in 2014, is expected to be 2.736437 per cent in 2024, a 3.5 per cent increase from last year.
Ontario cities: Large and small jumps
With a proposed 9.5 per cent hike, Toronto will likely have the largest property tax increase since 2023. After Calgary, the city saw the second-largest 10-year increase at 8.9 per cent. Toronto homeowners may be looking at around $2,771 in property taxes for a $500,000 assessed property and $5,542 for a $1,000,000 assessed property.
Hamilton follows closely with the next-largest increase from 2023 to 2024 at 7.9 per cent. However, in the past decade, Hamilton has not experienced as much change. From 2014 to 2024, the property tax rate increased by 3.2 per cent, which is about $7,159 in property taxes for Hamilton homeowners with properties assessed at $500,000.
Ottawa looks to have the smallest tax increase from 2023 to 2024, rising by a proposed rate of 2.5 per cent. The speculated 2024 property tax rate of 1.198508 per cent marks a 6.4 per cent boost from the 2014 property tax rate. Ottawa homeowners can anticipate paying approximately $5,993 in property taxes for a property assessed at $500,000.
Review the full report here.
