On June 24, 2026, MPAC shared a press release titled “More Ontario homes valued under $500,000 as market eases from 2022 peak”. MPAC stands for “Municipal Property Assessment Corporation”.
How did Burlington Fare?
The table below shows the percentage of properties assessed with a value less than $500,000. We can see that in 2016, 39% of Burlington homes had an assessed value under $500,000. This changed to just 1% during the housing frenzy of 2022 and has now come back to 8% of properties.
| 2016 | 2022 | 2026 | |
| Province | 67% | 17% | 24% |
| Burlington | 39% | 1% | 8% |
The next table shows the percentage of properties assessed at more than $1,500,000. We can see that in 2016, 2% of Burlington homes had an assessed value over $1,500,000. This rose to 22% during the housing frenzy of 2022 and has now returned to 13% of properties.
| 2016 | 2022 | 2026 | |
| Province | 2% | 12% | 8% |
| Burlington | 2% | 22% | 13% |
Low interest rates combined with higher-than-usual immigration contributed to the 2022 housing price boom. The information above shows that prices have declined and may be stabilizing.
If prices continue to fall, the winners are people trying to enter the housing market. Unfortunately, some people who bought in 2022 may own property that is worth less than what they paid for it.
What is MPAC
Funded by Ontario’s 444 municipalities, MPAC is a creature of the Province of Ontario. Officially, MPAC is a not-for-profit corporation. Ontario’s Minister of Finance appoints the Board of Directors. MPAC employs between 1,700 and 1,800 people, with salaries and benefits costing over $226 million (2025). Many of the employees are certified valuation professionals and are located throughout the province.
Will the new MPAC assessments cause my tax bill to go up?
The short answer is no! The city has to justify the property tax revenue it collects with a budget. Regarding our tax bill, MPAC assessment values have been frozen at the 2016 levels. When the province allows current assessed values to be used, if average property values are up, the percentage used to calculate property taxes will go down. If there is a housing market crash and suddenly the value of all properties goes down, guess what? The percentage applied will go up. The city won’t lower the tax revenue it collects.
This is the formula used on our 2026 Final Tax Bill.
Why bother if property taxes don’t change when MPAC assessments do?
MPAC assessments keep things fair. If your neighbour added a 2,000-square-foot addition, their MPAC value will go up relative to yours, and they will start paying more property taxes.
How New or Renovated Homes Are Handled
If you bought a brand-new home, built an addition, or undertook a major renovation, you will still receive an updated assessment notice from MPAC. For brand-new homes and renovations, to keep property taxes fair across a municipality, MPAC determines what your newly built or renovated home would have been worth if it had existed on January 1, 2016.
This is why the MPAC “Current Value Assessment” on your tax bill looks low compared to what properties actually sell for on the open market today, even if you just bought your home.
How has the tax revenue Burlington collects changed over the last four years?
City staff calculate the total cost required to run day-to-day operations and services (e.g., parks maintenance, transit, fire protection, and library services).
Burlington offsets its total cost using income streams—such as provincial grants, user fees (recreation programs, parking, transit fares), and building permits. The remaining amount that must be funded by property owners is called the Net City Tax Levy.
Over the four-year term of the current city council, total tax revenue collected by the city has increased by just over 47%. This includes property tax increases of 44.7% and taxes collected from new assessments (e.g., newly constructed condos). In 2022, the city managed with $191,855,938 in property tax revenue. Four years later, the city is collecting $282,201,000. That’s over $90 million more in property tax revenue.
The city likes to talk about the impact of the increase when telling us about property taxes. These are the year-to-year increases in the amount of property taxes collected by Burlington for Burlington, the Net City Tax Levy. The numbers are very impactful.
| Year | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Year to year increase in Net City Tax Levy. The total amount of property taxes collected by Burlington for Burlington. | 14.26% | 11.33% | 8.31% | 6.76% |
The mayor, through Strong Mayor Powers, controls the budget and increases in the budget cause increases in the Net City Tax Levy, which, in turn, cause increases to the Municipal or Burlington line on our property tax bill.
If you can find your MPAC assessment letter, you can register on the MPAC website to view your home’s assessed value.
https://www.aboutmyproperty.ca/#/auth/home
You can read the full press release here: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/more-ontario-homes-valued-under-500-000-as-market-eases-from-2022-peak-831215480.html
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