While there was little change to the average residential tax rate this year, Toronto and Vancouver, two of Canada's most expensive markets, continued to see lower residential tax rates.
Advisory services and data provider Altus Group, in its 2018 Canadian Property Tax Rate Benchmark Report, showed that the average estimated residential property taxes per $1,000 of assessment among the cities surveyed was $8.82. This marks a hike of 0.79% year-
over-year.
Examining the city-specific data, it was found that larger assessment bases paved the way for Toronto to record a drop in residential tax rates for the tenth consecutive year. Vancouver, meanwhile, followed a similar trend, seeing a decline for the fifteenth consecutive year.
Calgary’s residential rates also sank by 2.21%. According to the 2018 City of Calgary
Property Assessment Market Report, this was partly of because an overall year-over-year increase of 4% in residential property values.
Notably, Quebec City registered the largest drop in residential rates of 7.47%, thanks to a significant slide in the region’s school tax rate.
Regina, Saskatoon, and Edmonton tracked the opposite direction after they posted the
largest residential tax rate increases of 2.55%, 2.13% and 2.09%, respectively.
Finally, it was highlighted in the report that Winnipeg, Halifax and Ottawa had the highest 2018 residential rates per $1,000 of assessment.
