Toronto Proposes Smaller Property Tax Increase

Toronto city staff have recommended a 2.2% property tax hike in its 2026 budget.

This breaks down to a 0.7% increase to the residential property tax and a 1.5% increase to the city building levy.

The softer tax rate, if approved by city council in February, would be Mayor Olivia Chow’s smallest. Property taxes increased 9.5% in 2024 — the highest in 25 years — and then again by 6.9% last year.

The lower tax increase comes in an election year. While Chow hasn’t yet announced whether she will seek a a second term in office, it’s more likely than not that she will throw her hat into the ring.

Chow was elected to the city’s top job in 2023, in a byelection, after then-mayor John Tory resigned from office just months into his third term. Tory admitted to an extramarital affair with a city staffer one week before his departure.