'Join the club:' GTA residents say Toronto taxpayers shouldn't complain about proposed rate hike

Toronto.ctvnews.ca
Jan. 16, 2023
Natalie Johnson

When Arun Pal moved from Scarborough to Ajax, he knew his property tax bill would nearly double in Durham.

“It’s definitely quite a remarkable difference for costs here,” Pal said.

But Pal had traded to a city with one of the highest residential tax rates in the Greater Toronto Area -- joining residents like Anne Simkins, who for decades has paid more in municipal tax than her friends west of Rouge River.

“We wish it was less, but we’re just used to it,” Simkins joked. “You have so many more amenities, and a lot more going on in Toronto, you would expect Toronto would pay more than Ajax.”

But after years of marginal bumps, Toronto City Hall has tabled the highest hike since amalgamation: a five-and-a-half per cent hike to residential property taxes, plus a one-and-a-half per cent increase to the City Building Fund, a dedicated levy for housing and transit.

Toronto Mayor John Tory has stressed the property tax increase remains less than the rate of inflation, though all told the average Toronto homeowner will pay $3,569 in municipal tax this year -- $233 more than in 2022.

A chart provided by the City of Toronto shows a comparison in residential property taxes.

According to the real estate firm Zoocasa, Toronto residents had the lowest property tax rate of 35 Ontario municipalities last year. A $1-million dollar home in Toronto received a $6,319 tax bill; Oshawa residents paid $13,256 on a home assessed at the same value.

“We’ve had very light property tax rates for a long time relative to others in the GTA region,” said CEO Lauren Haw.

One reason: special powers granted under the City of Toronto Act allow Toronto to tap into a broader revenue stream, including a municipal land transfer tax. Property tax constitutes only 30 per cent of Toronto’s operating budget revenue, compared to 60 per cent in Mississauga.

“The city of Mississauga does not have the same revenue tools,” stressed Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who has presented a budget that asks Mississauga homeowners to pay three per cent more this year, in addition to the three per cent levied by the Region of Peel.

“We know people are really struggling to make ends meet this year, so we are trying to keep our tax increase as affordable as possible.”

Durham taxpayers, meanwhile, joke that Toronto homeowners have had it easy.

“I’d love to see a tax bill from a Toronto resident and compare it to ours,” Ajax resident Lisa Prendergast told CTV News.

“Good luck Toronto, join the club!”