The property tax difference between the B.C. municipalities with the highest and lowest rates was more than $4,000 in 2022 – that equates to more than three months’ worth of groceries for a family of four.
Zoocasa, a Canadian brokerage, compiled a list of 31 municipalities across B.C., looking at 2022 residential property tax rates and calculated the amount of taxes a resident would pay on a home valued at $500,000, $1 million, $1.5 million, and the average price.
Home prices were sourced from area real estate boards, including the Victoria Real Estate Board, and were based on December 2022 prices. Total property tax rates were sourced from each municipality’s website and include the municipal tax rate as well as the rates collected on behalf of other levels of government.
Of the nine Greater Victoria municipalities included on the list that was released Jan. 30, Central Saanich had the fifth-highest property tax rate in the province while North Saanich landed in the lowest five. Victoria had the second highest in the region while Colwood had the highest rate from the western communities.
Listed from lowest to highest, Whistler tops the list with a total property tax rate in 2022 of 0.24 per cent. Taxes assessed on a home worth $500,000 would be $1,179.50 while taxes on a home at $1.5 million would be $3,538.50. Following Whistler is Vancouver at 0.27 per cent, Surrey at 0.28 per cent, Burnaby at a little more than 0.28 per cent and North Saanich rounds out the lowest five at 0.29 per cent.
View Royal sits in the 11th spot at 0.36 per cent followed by Sidney at 15th with 0.38 per cent. Langford, Sooke and Colwood place 20th to 22nd at 0.4 per cent, 0.41 per cent and 0.42 per cent, respectively. Saanich comes in 24th with 0.43 per cent, followed by Victoria in 26th position at 0.45 per cent and Central Saanich in 27th with a little more than 0.45 per cent.
Nanaimo, Kamloops and Powell River round out the bottom three and were the only municipalities on the list with rates at more than 0.6 per cent.
Based on a home worth $1 million, the tax difference between Powell River (0.67 per cent) and Whistler is $4,352.50. A $1 million home in Victoria would cost $174.32 more than in Saanich but a home in Central Saanich would cost $1,672.85 more than one in North Saanich. For homeowners on the West Shore, that home would cost $645 more in Colwood than View Royal.