Highest and Lowest Property Tax Mill Rates in Canada

Each figure below is the current residential municipal mill rate published on the corresponding OpenStats property tax city page. A mill rate is the tax charged per $1,000 of assessed property value; a rate of 10 means $10 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value, or 1% of assessed value. Only municipalities with a direct, verified rate are included in these tables, and the rate shown is the municipal residential rate before any separate education or school board levy.

Highest residential mill rates

A high mill rate on this list does not automatically mean a high tax bill. Property assessment is a provincial responsibility, and provinces that assess close to current market value on a short cycle, such as Alberta and British Columbia, tend to show mill rates that move with the market more directly than provinces with longer or capped assessment cycles. A municipality can carry a lower mill rate simply because its assessment base has drifted above current market value, or a higher mill rate because its assessment base has fallen behind it, without either municipality's actual tax bill moving in the direction the rate alone suggests.

Lowest residential mill rates

To compare tax burden between two municipalities on this list, estimate the dollar tax bill on a similar property value in each place. Comparing mill rates alone can mislead: a city near the top of the highest-rate table can still collect less tax on an average home than a city lower on the list once assessed values differ.

The OpenStats guide to property tax mill rates in Canada covers how each province sets its assessment base, why a falling mill rate does not necessarily mean falling taxes, and how to build a fair dollar-for-dollar comparison between two municipalities. The property tax topic site pairs the mill rate for every municipality in these tables with an estimated tax bill on a representative home value, and a calculator for estimating a bill on a specific assessed value.

Municipal mill rates also cover only the municipal portion of a property tax bill. Most provinces layer a separate education levy, set provincially, on top of the municipal rate, along with additional levies for local boards in some regions. The tables above report the municipal residential rate only, since that is the figure under direct municipal control and the one most useful for comparing local fiscal policy between places.