Vancouver city councillor pitches 7% property tax hike, with rebates for most owners | Daily Hive

Vancouver city councillor pitches 7% property tax hike, with rebates for most homeowners

Sean Orr. (COPE)

A new member motion from COPE councillor Sean Orr is putting the spotlight back on how the City of Vancouver covers its operating expenditures, with a proposal that would shift more of the property tax burden onto higher-valued property owners, multiple property owners, and/or non-resident investors, while aiming to limit increases for most of the other homeowners.

The motion comes after Vancouver City Council passed its 2026 operating budget with a zero per cent property tax increase, following a “Zero Means Zero” push by Mayor Ken Sim and the ABC Vancouver party’s governing majority last fall.

Between 2017 and 2024, Vancouver’s annual property tax increases have been going up at highly elevated rates each year — ranging from 3.9 per cent to up to 10.7 per cent emerging out of the pandemic and into a significant market inflationary environment. Prior to 2017, annual property tax increases have generally been roughly two per cent to three per cent or under.

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Orr’s motion argues that freezing the municipal portion of the property tax across the board may sound fair on the surface, but in practice treats very different groups of property owners the same.

A different form of COPE’s “Mansion Tax”?

To change that, Orr is proposing what he calls the “Fair Share Vancouver Property Tax Rebate Program” administered by City staff. The idea is to raise property taxes overall, but then give targeted rebates so that most local homeowners do not actually see their annual tax bills go up.

Specifically, the plan calls for a seven per cent increase to the residential property tax rate. No increases would be made to the property tax paid by businesses.

Under Orr’s scheme, homeowners who live in their property as their main residence, own only one home in Vancouver, and have a property assessed under $3 million would receive a rebate that cancels out that staggering increase.

In B.C. Assessment’s 2026 valuation roll, Vancouver saw its median single-family detached home assessment fall by about five per cent — from roughly $2.205 million in July 2024 to about $2.092 million in July 2025. Each year’s valuation is based on property values as of July in the previous year.

In simple terms, Orr’s goal is to create a split system: people living in a typical home would pay about the same as they do now, while owners of multiple properties, higher-value homes, and/or non-resident investors would pay more. The additional revenue collected from those groups would then help fund City services and close budget gaps.

The proposal appears to resemble a variation of COPE’s previously floated “Mansion Tax,” which the party has advanced in past election campaigns and through previous city councillors representing the party. Over the past decade, COPE has been highly vocal on its opposition to the existing flat property tax rate rather than have it rise progressively with property values.

Provincial government’s approval required

There are, however, very significant hurdles to such a scheme.

Under current rules in the Vancouver Charter, the City does not have the authority to offer property tax rebates based on factors like how many homes a person owns or whether they live in the property. To make the proposal possible, the City would need the Government of British Columbia to step in and grant new powers, likely through legislative amendments.

Even if the provincial government agrees, there are practical questions about how the system would work. City staff would need to figure out how to verify who qualifies for the rebate, potentially by cross-checking property records, tax declarations, and provincial databases. They would also need to estimate how many homeowners would be eligible, how much revenue the tax increase would generate, and what the final financial impact would be after rebates are paid out.

If approved, the motion asks City staff to report back within 30 days on the details relating to the legal and legislative hurdles, and whether the program could realistically be rolled out in time for the 2026 tax year or if it would need to wait until 2027 for the earliest implementation opportunity.

Here are the annual property tax increases for the municipal portion within the City of Vancouver:

2026: 0%
2025: 3.9%
2024: 7.5%
2023: 10.7%
2022: 6.35%
2021: 5%
2020: 7%
2019: 4.9%
2018: 4.2%
2017: 3.9%
2016: 2.3%
2015: 2.4%
2014: 1.9%
2013: 1.5%
2012: 2.8%
2011: 2.2%
2010: 2.3%

The municipal government’s property tax accounts for roughly half of all property taxes paid by homeowners. Other property taxes paid by homeowners and business owners are levied by TransLink, Metro Vancouver Regional District, and the provincial government, which is increasing its provincial School Tax.

The B.C. government’s recently announced 2026 budget raises the School Tax on high-value homes and changes how its tax rates are calculated,.

Starting in 2027, homeowners with properties assessed above $3 million will pay higher additional school taxes. The tax rate on the portion of a home’s value between $3 million and $4 million will increase from 0.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent. For the portion of a home’s value above $4 million, the rate will rise from 0.4 per cent to 0.6 per cent. This amounts to a 50 per cent increase in the rates.

The extra school tax applies to most residential properties worth more than $3 million, including single-family detached houses, townhomes, and condominium homes, as well as most vacant land. For mixed-use buildings, only the residential portion above $3 million is taxed. The provincial government estimates that about 2.3 per cent of homes will be affected.

The provincial budget also changes how school property tax rates are set for both businesses and homeowners, starting in 2026.

Instead of tying yearly increases mainly to inflation and new construction, the provincial government will now adjust school property tax rates based on the average growth of B.C.’s economy over the past three years.

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