Municipal

Taxing debate awaits Toronto commercial parking

Taxing debate awaits Toronto commercial parking

Debate about a proposed surcharge on commercial parking spaces in Toronto has been deferred until City Council begins to consider 2025 budget measures.
State of good repair lags in Toronto

State of good repair lags in City of Toronto

Toronto is backsliding on the upkeep of municipal facilities, with a state of good repair backlog that’s projected to surpass $1 billion this year and then continue accumulating to nearly $1.47 billion by 2033.
Commercial ratepayers carry heftier tax share

Commercial ratepayers carry heftier tax share

Commercial ratepayers took on a larger share of the property tax burden in eight of 11 large Canadian cities this year, with 2023 commercial tax rates more than tripling residential tax rates in six of those cities.
Ontario keeps clinging to 2016 market values

Ontario keeps clinging to 2016 market values

The recent regulation to postpone Ontario's property reassessment for another year stretches the assessment cycle to double its originally intended time span.
Toronto strives to find more cash

Toronto strives to find more cash

Commercial properties are central to Toronto’s efforts to find more cash as the city government considers how to address massive budget shortfalls projected for 2024 and into the future.
Property tax relief looks iffy in New Brunswick

Property tax relief looks iffy in New Brunswick

Beginning in 2023, municipalities will have flexibility to pull more revenue from their non-residential tax base, potentially cancelling out a phased 15 per cent reduction in the provincial property tax rate that was introduced this year.
Ontario's overdue property reassessment has been postponed for a third time

Overdue property reassessment raises alarm

Ontario’s overdue property reassessment is on hold until at least 2024, leaving many commercial ratepayers with a further wait to realize tax reductions from pandemic-related value erosion.
Toronto strip plazas considered for tax discount

COVID impacts linger for commercial ratepayers

Assessed values in Ottawa and Toronto will be at least seven years out of date and Winnipeg’s will be nearly five years behind before new assessment cycles begin in those cities.
Light industrial set for a heavy property tax hit

Light industrial set for heavy property tax hit

Economic fallout from COVID-19 is shifting more of the tax burden to this flourishing group of assets via the mill rate, while also driving up the tax rate, for a double-whammy of consequences in jurisdictions that update valuations annually.
condo security 

Historic property tax disparity dismantled

As announced in the provincial budget, the Ontario government plans to equalize the business education tax (BET) rate at 0.88 per cent for 2021, equating to a $450-million tax cut province-wide.
property tax ratios lopsided against commercial ratepayers

Property tax ratios epitomize commercial burden

The commercial property tax rate is at least double the residential rate in eight of the 11 surveyed cities, with commercial ratepayers in Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City shouldering the most disproportionate shares.
Public disclosure of energy use and GHG intensity holds little appeal for building owners concerned about uninformed scrutiny

Public disclosure could foil energy reporting

The City of Winnipeg has invited commercial building owners and institutional facility managers to affix their Energy Star Portfolio Manager results on a publicly accessible map.
Gen Z friendly cities

Gen Z friendly cities foster a rising cohort

The study assesses and scores 110 prominent international cities on 22 indicators deemed to support and/or influence the age cohort born between 1997 and 2012.
scrutiny of accessibility

Ontario aims to relax scrutiny of accessibility

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing says the underlying principle of improving accessibility will be maintained, and connects the revisions to the government's commitment to cut red tape that is slowing down the production of new housing.
suburban office parks

Mixed uses to ease into suburban office parks

The new policy would give developers a basis to challenge any local government's veto of non-employment land uses in suburban office parks.
clothing donation bins

Clothing donation bins may pose liability risk

Commercial property owners who host clothing donation bins could run afoul of their province's Occupiers Liability Act or Occupational Health and Safety Act should an incident occur.
Commercial ratepayers

Few favours for commercial ratepayers in 2018

Tax ratios for 11 of Canada's largest cities demonstrate that commercial ratepayers consistently carry a disproportionate share of the municipal property tax burden.