Ontario Property Taxes by City 2025

Last update January 14, 2025

This article explores Ontario property tax rates by city for 2024. New rates for 2025 will be updated as they are published.

How does your community compare?

When are Property Tax Rates Available in Ontario?

Municipalities across Ontario are required to have budgets completed and approved by April 30 of each year. The province also completes the education levy, which is included in the municipal tax rate, by this time. 

What is Included in Ontario Property Tax Rates?

Total municipal taxes include a lower-tier tax rate, an upper-tier rate (set by the county or region, if applicable), an education rate (set by the province), and sometimes additional items that could include a wide range of specifics like street lighting and outside policing costs.

To make comparisons between areas more fair, we have excluded some items that may be included in some tax rate calculations, like one-time levies and BIA charges.

We have researched tax rates for over 360 locations - municipalities (including communities, wards, etc. within amalgamated areas) in Ontario in the tables below by reviewing municipal websites, property tax by-laws, rate tables and contacting finance departments.

In order to be reasonable, we shouldn't compare the rates from remote regions to those with nearby access to competitive services or a much larger suite of municipal services. Nor should we compare areas with small populations to major cities. 

In some cases, property value differences are substantial between different locations. The rates are based on assessed average value (AAV), and need to adjust on average to meet the local budget for revenue from property taxes.

It can be helpful to look at places close to each other, especially if looking to purchase a property in an area with more than one tax option. They may have different service offerings, but are the differences worth the rate differences?

Scroll down to see the full table with search and sorting features, and a map showing tax rates by location for Ontario, with shading to represent the highest and lowest tax areas.

Which cities have the highest property taxes in Ontario for 2024?

The chart below shows the communities in Ontario with the highest residential property taxes for 2024:

Marathon has the highest property taxes in Ontario for 2024 at 3.074276%.

Windsor is the city with the highest property taxes in Ontario in 2024.

Which cities have the lowest taxes in Ontario for 2024?

The Archipelago South has the lowest property tax rate in Ontario for 2024. This community is just south of Parry Sound on the east side of Georgian Bay.

Markham has the lowest property tax rate in Ontario for 2024 for a city.

Compare Property Taxes in Ontario by City

Map of Ontario Property Tax Rates

Understanding the municipal tax process in Ontario

First, we need to understand that our municipal governments have to provide similar services, regardless of how much our properties are worth. In virtually all budgets, the number one expense is for the salaries of public employees - police, fire, EMS, municipal workers, road maintenance, etc. Those people make roughly the same amount from one community to the next.

In those cities with higher average property values, they can apply a lower tax rate to come up with a similar amount of revenue. Of course, there will be differences based on population size and other factors, but you get the idea.

Without delving too much into the process, they establish a budget, and determine from that how much revenue needs to come from property taxes. They then adjust what is called the millage (or mill) rate of each property type to come up with the amount needed to reach the revenue target.

Changes to the assessment value and rate each year are designed to be revenue-neutral. This means that when your MPAC assessment increases, it will be multiplied by a lower tax rate to come up with the same amount of tax. Of course, this assumes that you haven't made any material change to your property, and also that the municipality hasn't increased it's budget. Budgets do increase, for inflation and changes in service levels.

Toronto vs. Oshawa Taxes

For example, the City of Toronto has one of the lowest rates in the province. That may sound ideal, but when you take into account that it also has one of the highest property assessment value averages, the actual amount of municipal tax you pay there isn't much different than in other places.  For example, the average assessment for a single family home in 2016 was $770,000 in Toronto, and in Oshawa, it was $356,000.  

- Toronto $770,000 times 0.688% or $5,298
- Oshawa $356,000 times 1.561% or $5,557

Assessments are (normally) completed every 4 years by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). An increase to the assessment value of a home is phased in over a 4 year period, whereas a decrease is applied immediately when calculating taxes.

Also, when you buy a property in Toronto, you must also pay a Municipal Land Transfer Tax on top of the Provincial Land Transfer Tax.  This is a particularly heavy burden for this market, as it adds more to the closing costs that need to be saved for along with the down payment, making it even more difficult in one of the most expensive areas for real estate in Canada.

How property taxes impact the average homeowner

Using the information from the previous table, and average property assessment values for 2016 (MPAC statistics), let's see how the average single family home fares:

Of course, these figures only represent averages. On higher-end properties, the rates will have a bigger impact. The rates are also different for different property types, and there are many variations of classes in commercial and industrial properties.  If you have a question regarding another type or another municipality, you can contact me and I would be happy to explain further.

Related articles:

Property Tax Calculator - Durham Region

Why are Property Tax Rates so High in Oshawa?

Ontario Development Charges by City

Durham Region Real Estate Market Report Daily

If you see an update for a municipality that isn't showing on this page, kindly send me an email with a link to the municipality web page to johnowen@remax.net 

About the Author

John Owen, Broker, RE/MAX Impact

Direct - 905-434-0067
Email - johnowen@remax.net

John is an award-winning RE/MAX broker serving a wide area from the GTA to Peterborough and Northumberland.

Member - RE/MAX Hall of Fame, Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).