What makes your assessment ‘fair’? Let’s talk about it

Since property assessments in Ontario are used to help municipalities distribute property taxes, it is essential for properties to be assessed accurately. This ensures property owners pay their fair share of property taxes, regardless of their property’s market value.

We recognize that for many people in Ontario, their property is their single biggest asset, and so the assessed value of their property is a big deal. We know we need to get it right because we know what is at stake for Ontario property owners.

How MPAC determines your property assessment

To assess your residential property, we analyze sales of similar properties that have sold in your area. Based on the sales information, there are five major factors that generally account for your property’s assessed value.

• Age of the buildings on the property
• Total square footage of living area
• Location of your property
• Size of your lot
• Quality of construction

Learn more about how we assess residential properties.

A wealth of resources at your fingertips

Property assessment can be complex, and that’s why we are committed to making it easier than ever for people to understand their assessments and how we arrived at their value.

If you have concerns about your assessment, we want to hear from you. We’ll work with you every step of the way to make sure we get your assessment right.

Our Customer Contact Centre, which boasts a 94% customer satisfaction rate, is available Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to answer any of your property assessment-related questions. Call us at 1 866 296-6722 or TTY 1 877 889-6722.

Our assessors also live and work in your communities, and they are always happy to take an appointment with you at one of our local offices to discuss your property assessment in further detail.

To learn more about how your property was assessed, visit our AboutMyProperty portal on mpac.ca. Here you can:

• See the information we have on file for your property;
• View the information for up to 100 comparable properties in your neighbourhood;
• Check out our Residential Methodology Guide, which provides in-depth information about how we value and classify residential properties in Ontario;
• Review our Market Valuation Reports that explain the assessment methodology applied to various property types; and
• Review our Local Market Adjustment Reports that detail local market adjustments MPAC made to ensure Current Value Assessments reflect local market conditions and are consistent with similar residential properties in their area.

We also offer the free Request for Reconsideration process, where property owners are invited to work with us directly on a review of their assessment, from January to March each year. And you can contact us any time with updates to your property information.

Fair and equitable values

Ultimately, our job at MPAC is to ensure that our valuations are fair and equitable so that similar properties pay a similar share of property taxes. As Ontario’s property market experts, we are committed to delivering impartial and accurate assessments that reflect the marketplace as of a common valuation date — currently January 1, 2016 — so that all property owners are taxed on a consistent basis.

To ensure we are delivering on our promise of delivering transparent and fair assessments to Ontarians, we apply recognized industry best practices throughout the valuation process.  Our 2016 values have been reviewed by MPAC’s Office of the Quality Service Commissioner and the International Property Tax Institute and both reviews determined that MPAC assessments are transparent and fair.

We don’t rest on that. It’s a non-stop effort to ensure we get it right. MPAC continues to review its processes and has put new processes in place to ensure our Valuation staff are trained on how to monitor for equity and fairness during the assessment process, and if we see inequity during the valuation process, we will take steps to correct it.

We are committed to getting it right. With 5.6 million properties assessed in Ontario, there will be times when taking a second look makes sense and is the right thing to do. If you have questions, there is something you can do about it and someone you can talk to.

We hope to hear from you.