Property taxes shape who can afford to own a home, who bears the cost of local services, and who benefits from the way governments assess value. This research program asks two foundational questions: are Calgary's property assessments equitable across communities — and are property taxes in Alberta regressive across demographics? Both questions have never been rigorously examined in Canada.
Are Calgary's property assessments equitable — or do vulnerable communities (higher racialized and immigrant populations, lower incomes) bear a disproportionate property tax burden due to systematic inequities in how assessments are calculated? Using a novel data-sharing agreement with the City of Calgary, this stream maps horizontal and vertical inequity by community, then uses Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to identify what drives the gap between vulnerable and non-vulnerable communities. Funded by SSHRC (IDG) and the City of Calgary's Equity in Service Delivery Fund.
Are property taxes in Alberta regressive — and if so, for whom, and by how much? This stream uses Canadian Housing Statistics Program data matched to municipal mill rates and provincial education tax rates to measure property tax regressivity for owner-occupied residential properties in Alberta, with comparisons to BC and Ontario. It breaks results down by age, family composition, immigrant status, and labour force status, then models the distributional impact of policy solutions: abatement programs, deferral schemes, tax credits, and assessment reform. Funded by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation.
Using property-level assessment and sales data for residential properties in Calgary and Edmonton for roll years 2019–2023, this paper examines assessment-to-sale ratio disparities between vulnerable communities (higher proportions of racialized, immigrant, Indigenous, low-income, and renter populations) and non-vulnerable communities. The baseline estimates find a statistically significant but small inequity: median-valued properties in vulnerable communities pay approximately $46.94 more per year in statutory property taxes than identically priced properties in non-vulnerable communities. An Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition shows that structural bias is positive, statistically significant, and of larger magnitude than the explained components in years where the ASR gap is positive — suggesting structural discrimination against properties in vulnerable communities. Assessment appeals have a precisely estimated zero effect. This study is among the first in Canada to empirically measure systemic bias in property assessments.
Using administrative data from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) merged with property tax rate data for 2021 and 2022, this paper provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of residential property tax regressivity in Alberta. Using the Suits Index — the standard measure in the North American property tax literature — it quantifies the relationship between household income and property tax burdens for owner-occupied residential properties, covering municipal property taxes, the provincial education tax, and seniors lodge levies. Results are decomposed by geography, property characteristics, and homeowner demographics including age, family composition, immigrant status, and labour force participation. The paper also simulates the distributional effects of policy reforms including enhanced deferral programs, income-tested credits, and circuit breaker mechanisms.
A cross-provincial companion applying identical Suits Index methodology to CHSP data for British Columbia and Ontario, enabling direct comparison of residential property tax regressivity across three provinces with distinct assessment regimes, rate structures, and relief programs. By situating Alberta's distributional outcomes within the broader Canadian context, this paper identifies whether Alberta's property tax system is more or less regressive than its provincial counterparts and what structural features drive the differences.