@calmmoneycoach: WHY DO CANADIANS PAY PROPERTY TAX ON A PAID-OFF HOME? Paid off your house and the property tax bill still shows up? It's one of our oldest taxes. Upper Canada's first assessment law in 1793 paid for a courthouse, a jail, bridges and destroying bears and wolves. Today it's potholes. Cities lean on it because it's one of the few taxes provinces let them collect. By the cities' own count, they look after about 60% of public infrastructure and collect about 10 cents of every tax dollar. Your bill follows your city's budget more than your home's value. The city works out what it needs and splits it across every property by value. If every home doubled, your share wouldn't change. Your bill goes up when the budget grows, or when your home rises faster than your neighbours'. On a fixed income and the bill keeps climbing? Most provinces have help. Nova Scotia rebates 50% of a low-income senior's property tax, up to $800. BC and Alberta let older owners defer it as a loan until they sell. Check what's available where you live. Part 2 tomorrow: what you're actually paying for in a brand new home. Free guides and a simple retirement calculator, then one email a month, at calmmoneycoach.com. I'm Brian Orlando, CPA, in Halifax. Advice-only planning through Calm Money Coach. No products, no commissions. Sources: 33 George III, Chapter 3 (1793), UNB British North America Legislative Database; Federation of Canadian Municipalities; novascotia.ca; gov.bc.ca; alberta.ca; IRS Topic 701. Education only. Photos: Oathill Crescent, Dartmouth by Ben MacLeod (CC BY-SA 4.0); Main Street, Picton by Doug Kerr (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons. #propertytax #personalfinancecanada #retirement #homeownership #canada
Brian | Calm Money Coach
Region: CA
Monday 26 October 2026 21:00:00 GMT
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Josclin 👩🏼🦳🫶🏻🇨🇦 :
Paying condo fees and property taxes still makes my brain hurt. Especially when condo fees are higher than property taxes!!
2026-10-27 23:57:32
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Falkor :
And in Ontario the incompetent MPAC has some overpaying significantly and other underpaying. Need a flat rate tax to stop the games and unfairness.
2026-10-27 15:09:58
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mariogalea311 :
I think once you turn 65 tax should stop on your home. So seniors can stay in their homes and have affordability with their pension taxes takes a big chunk out of seniors that like to stay home instead of moving to a nursing home, be able to afford home care without paying taxes.
2026-10-27 13:07:10
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Tigrou Cappu :
I understand the municipal tax. but I don't understand the 13-15% sale tax!
2026-10-27 22:00:18
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canada matters :
Because you are registering your house,to the crown,the crown owns it,you put it into a trust register a car. The crown owns it, 🥴
2026-10-27 19:19:00
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simon4973 :
because just because your house is paid off, the services don't stop
2026-10-27 16:34:06
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HMDakDak :
Any person who has paid off their house should not be paying property tax. Especially even if you’re seniors.
2026-10-26 22:51:38
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RanchRustyDad :
Property taxes are for municipal services…..how to people not understand this
2026-10-27 05:00:45
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Barbie Anne355🇨🇦 :
Garbage pick up, street cleaning, schools ect
2026-10-27 21:37:32
5
Diana :
Seeing that the value of homes in our neighbourhood have gone down 30% from the peak. It would be nice if our property taxes would go down.
2026-10-26 21:31:57
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sam :
They should get rid of this property tax. So freaking silly
2026-10-26 23:51:28
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mandyb 🇨🇦 :
they should just rename it to "municipal tax" instead of "property tax" so that people understand.
2026-10-26 22:44:48
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KAAKMONEY :
Property taxes across Canada are getting out of hand. This is because federal and provincial governments downloaded a lot of services onto cities.
2026-10-26 23:04:40
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schparrow :
they really should have just called it Government Services Fees instead of Property Tax. So many people think the tax is for their house when it's actually for the services the government provides.
2026-10-26 23:11:17
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Joe101 :
That’s why it shouldn’t be there anymore we pay way over enough in taxes
2026-10-26 23:05:36
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You can call me Doug :
property taxes should be reduced to only cover the cost of services once the house is paid off.. otherwise it is a cash grab.
2026-10-26 22:32:08
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club_saanich :
The real issue is why am I paying taxes on the "unrealized gains" in my propery when people with stock portfolios are not?
2026-10-27 04:43:32
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nat :
Is this really a question?
2026-10-27 11:22:31
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club_saanich :
Because the community still needs upkeep and maintenance.
The fact that you paid off the mortgage at the bank is meaningless anyway. The bank owned it before you and another person owned it before that. Should the taxes have stopped on my property 85 years ago after the first owner paid it off?
2026-10-27 04:42:07
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thatguy🇨🇦 :
I inherited a bunch of money at 21, buy a house with cash and bingo bango no property taxes because it's paid off.
2026-10-27 11:59:43
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Off grid in the forest :
Income tax plus tax on your property that is paid off is a robbery of Canadian citizens and no matter how much you will spin this it’s a theft done by government
2026-10-27 00:07:21
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Eric :
So the rich that buy a home with cash shouldn’t have to pay property tax on that property?
2026-10-27 05:22:16
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old_grey_hound :
seniors should never have to pay property tax !!
2026-10-27 10:13:16
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5ivesixty :
don't tell Canadians that property owners in China don't even pay 1 cent of property tax.
2026-10-26 23:51:49
4
Dogan :
so what your solution if you get rid if property tax
2026-10-27 17:11:59
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