Calgary residents have seen their property taxes nearly double since 2016, making it the city with the highest tax burden in Canada, according to a new report.
Released on Oct. 8, the analysis by the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy used Statistics Canada 2016 and 2021 census data to compare property tax rates “in absolute and relative terms” across major cities in each province.
It found that in those five years, Calgary’s “nominal” property tax rate, which is the rate given by each municipality based on assessed value, increased by 28 percent, resulting in the average annual property tax paid rising from $2,736 to $3,496. However, the authors argued that the “effective rate” of property taxes, meaning as a percentage of home value, needs to be taken into account as well. They noted that home values in Calgary dropped by 7.3 percent and the average household income declined by 13.2 percent during the census years studied….