Before Filing an Application or Appeal

Learn about property assessment in Ontario.

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Property assessment in Ontario, Who’s who?

The provincial government makes laws and regulations about property assessment.

Municipalities set tax rates, issue property tax bills and collect property taxes.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assesses and classifies all properties in Ontario.

• Assessing: Determining the assessed value of a property for tax purposes
• Classifying: Determining the type of property according to its use Residential, multi-residential, commercial, industrial or farm, for example

Property owners receive Notices of Assessment from the MPAC. If they disagree with the assessment or classification of their property, they can challenge it through a Request for Reconsideration or an appeal to the ARB, depending on the property type.

The Assessment Review Board (ARB) decides appeals of:

• property classifications
• property value assessments
• some property tax assessments

During a virtual hearing, ARB adjudicators decide appeals or applications based on the evidence presented and the law.

Estimate your savings. Try the Tax Calculator

Thinking of applying to the ARB to lower your property assessment? Use the tax calculator to estimate how much you could save.

You will need:

• Your MPAC Notice of Assessment
• A recent property tax bill

You can also review MPAC’s Property Assessment and Taxation Toolkit.

Types of Appeals and Applications at the ARB

This page describes the different types of appeals and applications you can submit to the ARB. For the details of each appeal and application type, and instructions on how to file, see Filing an Appeal.

Property Classification and Assessment Appeals

The MPAC assesses the value and classification of properties in Ontario and provides this information in a Property Assessment Notice. For help understanding your Property Assessment Notice, visit MPAC’s Your Assessment webpage.

If you believe MPAC has incorrectly assessed or classified your property, you may be able to ask the ARB to review the assessment or classification. However, for many property types, you will need to submit a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) to MPAC or another authority before you can appeal to the ARB. Find out more in “Appeal or Request for Reconsideration?”.

For properties that do not require a Request for Reconsideration, you must file your appeal with the ARB by March 31 of the taxation year.

For properties that require a Request for Reconsideration, you can appeal to the ARB:

• after you receive a decision on the RfR and you are not happy with the result
• if you do not receive a decision on the RfR within 180 days (or 240 days, if you agree to an extension)

Third-Party (non-owner) Assessment Appeals

A third-party appeal is an appeal filed by someone other than the property owner.

If you are not the property owner, appeal the assessment directly to the ARB. Do not file a Request for Reconsideration with MPAC. You will have to send a copy of your appeal to the property owner by the filing deadline. If you do not, your appeal will not be valid.

If you are a property owner and a third party files an appeal about your property, they will send you a copy of the appeal. You will be notified about any proceedings at the ARB but you do not have to attend. You will receive a copy of the ARB decision in the mail.

Property Tax Appeals

Appeal your property taxes

If you want to dispute your property taxes, you can appeal to the ARB. A tenant of the property, an occupant or one of their spouses, can also appeal. This right is established in the Municipal Act, 2001 and the City of Toronto Act, 2006.

Before you file with the ARB, contact the municipality. In some cases, you will have to apply to the municipality to change your taxes before you appeal to the ARB. In other cases, you will be able to appeal directly to the ARB.

For more information see the Infosheet: Tax Appeals .

Apply to cancel or reduce your property taxes because of extreme poverty

If you are poor or sick you can apply for tax relief. Before you apply, contact the municipality. They will let you know the process to follow. In some cases, you will have to apply to the municipality and then, if you are not satisfied with the outcome, appeal to the ARB. In other cases, you can apply directly to the ARB.

One tool the ARB uses to determine your financial situation is Statistics Canada’s Market Basket Measure (MBM) Thresholds. If a family’s disposable income is 25% below the threshold, they are considered to be in extreme poverty. You can select your location and family size on the Market Basket Measure (MBM) Thresholds webpage to see if you are in extreme poverty.

For more information, see the Infosheet: Tax Relief Due to Sickness or Extreme Poverty .

Application for an Extension for Filing a Request for Reconsideration

Requests for Reconsideration (RfRs) are not filed with the ARB. However, the ARB can grant an extension to submit an RfR in exceptional circumstances. You must provide specific and legitimate reasons for missing the filing deadline.

If the ARB approves an extension, file your RfR before the new deadline set by the ARB. Keep the ARB decision letter for reference.

If the ARB does not approve an extension, you may file a RfR for the next tax year.

Appeal or Request for Reconsideration?

Types of property owners who cannot appeal their assessment or classification directly to the ARB

Owners of these property types must file a request for reconsideration before appealing to the ARB:

• Residential
• Farm
• Conservation lands
• Managed forests
• Any property that is partially classified as residential, farm, conservation lands, and/or managed forests

For more information about these assessment appeals, see the Infosheet: Special Property Tax Class .

Types of property owners who can appeal their assessment or classification directly to the ARB

Owners of these property types can appeal directly to the ARB:

• commercial
• industrial
• multi-residential
• other non-residential property classes

Making a Request for Reconsideration

If any part of your property is classified as:

• farm
• managed forest
• conservation land, or
• commercial with a residential component

you must submit a RfR before you can file an appeal with the ARB.

If you are challenging the assessed value or MPAC classification of your property:

• Submit the RfR to the MPAC. The deadline to submit a RfR is March 31.

For properties benefitting from a property tax program

Properties that are classified as farm, managed forest or conservation lands may be eligible for lower property taxes through special programs. These programs are not administered by the MPAC. For issues with eligibility, you must file an RfR with the program administrator. After you receive an RfR decision from the program administrator, you may appeal that decision to the ARB.

• Farm property: Eligible farmlands may be taxed at 25 per cent of the municipal residential rate. Submit the RfR to the Farm Property Tax Rate Administrator at Agricorp. Email: contact@agricorp.com.
• Managed forest property: Eligible managed forest properties may be taxed at 25 per cent of the municipal residential rate. Submit the RfR to the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP). Phone 1-855-866-3847 or e-mail MFTIP@ontario.ca.
• Conservation land: Eligible conservation land properties may be assigned to the Conservation Land exempt tax class and that portion of the property will be 100 per cent property tax exempt. Submit the RfR to the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program (CLTIP). Call 1-800-268-8959 or e-mail CLTIP@ontario.ca.

History of the ARB

Property assessments have been conducted in what is now Ontario since 1793. In 1970, the province took over responsibility for property assessment from municipalities and replaced the Courts of Revision with the Assessment Review Court (ARC). In 1983, the ARC was renamed the Assessment Review Board.

Before 1998, ARB decisions could be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board (now called the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.) With the enactment of the Fair Municipal Finance Act in 1997, the ARB became the province’s sole adjudicative tribunal for property assessment appeals.

ARB decisions are final and binding. They can only be appealed to the Divisional Court on questions of law and only if the Divisional Court gives permission (“leave”) to appeal. The ARB may also review its decisions.

Beginning in 2009, changes to the Assessment Act required owners of residential, farm and conservation lands, and managed forests to file a request for reconsideration with the MPAC, and/or the Program Administrator (for farm, managed forest, or conservation land), before filing an appeal with the ARB.