Ontario Update: Capturing Changes in Ontario’s Property Landscape  

Submitted by: Greg Martino, M.I.M.A, Vice-President and Chief Valuation & Standards Officer Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) 

This year, MPAC added almost $43 billion in new assessments as part of Ontario’s property inventory, including new construction and improvements to existing properties. Residential homes, including condominiums, accounted for nearly $31 billion of this increase, while commercial and industrial properties accounted for more than $5.7 billion.

Maintaining Ontario’s property database, which includes key data elements on more than 5.6 million properties, is vital to ensuring we’re able to provide accurate assessments and meaningful insights to Ontario’s property owners and municipalities.

With properties frequently undergoing changes, MPAC requires up-to-date property information to ensure our database remains current, which supports both our delivery of annual assessment rolls and quality assessments.

Online data collection enhancements launching in early 2025

As part of our ongoing commitment to improve the customer experience while maintaining our property inventory, MPAC is introducing a number of online enhancements to AboutMyProperty to support various data collection campaigns, including the Property Income Expense Request program.

Through MPAC’s annual Assessment Information Request Program, where property data is collected from several sectors, our assessors can access timely information direct from owners. This collection of data is part of MPAC’s legislative mandate and owner compliance with an MPAC information request is also required under section 11 of the Assessment Act.

Each year, MPAC mails information requests for more than 35,000 properties across the province. “The enhancements that property owners will see in 2025 will improve the user experience and, in turn, support the efficient return of data to MPAC,” says Shelley Graham, Director of Valuation, Research & Advisory Services.

Next year, owners that submit information online through AboutMyProperty can expect to see:

  • a redesigned user interface with easier to read screens and an improved process flow;
  • prepopulated data from previous submissions can be validated and edited to save time and effort; and,
  • options to view/print past submissions.

Future updates will be shared though our industry newsletter. To sign up or learn more, contact industry@mpac.ca.

Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement  

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy delivered the 2024 Ontario Fall Economic Statement (FES), Building Ontario For You, on October 30. The FES includes some assessment-related developments focused on investments to address affordability for Ontarians.

As property tax reassessments remain deferred pending the completion of the system-wide assessment and taxation review, the government is taking action to prioritize three areas identified through their consultations with stakeholders:

  • Affordable Rental Housing — Providing municipalities with the ability to reduce municipal tax rates on affordable rental housing through the creation of an optional property tax subclass. As well, the government will continue exploring potential assessment methodology changes for these properties.
  • Student Housing — Introducing a legislative amendment that would provide consistent treatment for university-operated student housing whether the institution’s property tax status is governed by the Assessment Act or an institution-specific statute.
  • Information Sharing — Undertaking work with MPAC, municipalities, and other stakeholders to enhance information sharing and develop new digital solutions, including:
    • Enabling broader municipal use of MPAC data to improve planning;
    • Evaluating new tools to help municipalities manage their assessment base;
    • Making assessment roll information available to the public through a centralized electronic platform; and
    • Authorizing digital delivery of property assessment notices.

We will continue to keep you informed on our next steps as we learn more.

Working with industry partners

The team at MPAC is committed to working with industry partners across the province. If you want more information about MPAC and the ways that we are working with industry, please let us know. We are looking to learn more about new opportunities to connect in 2025. Enquiries can be directed to Cathy Ranieri Sweenie, Director, Strategic Business Support, via industry@mpac.ca.