BC Property Tax 2026: Home Owner Grant, SVT & Costs
Saanich, the district where my family lives, raised property taxes by 7.2% in 2023, 7.93% in 2024 and 8.02% in 2025. This year’s 5.35% increase was actually the smallest since 2022, and it still meant about $215 more for the average homeowner and $113 more for the average strata unit, according to Saanich News.
Stack those four years together and the municipal share has grown by roughly 32%. If that portion of your bill was $3,000 in 2022, it would be close to $3,950 today, for the exact same home.
When you’re saving for a house, everyone talks about the mortgage. Nobody mentions that owning a home also comes with a bill that tends to rise every single year.
| Year | Saanich property tax increase |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.53% |
| 2023 | 7.2% |
| 2024 | 7.93% |
| 2025 | 8.02% |
| 2026 | 5.35% |
Before you budget around any of this: I’m a future homeowner doing my homework, not a tax professional. Property tax, grants and exemptions depend on your municipality and your circumstances, and the rules can change from year to year. Check the official BC government pages linked here or ask your municipality.
How your property tax bill is calculated
The basic formula is simple:
BC Assessment value × your area’s tax rates = your property tax
Two things surprised me once I understood it.
Your tax can rise even if your home’s value doesn’t. When a city’s budget grows, the tax rate goes up to collect the money. Assessed values set how the total is shared between owners, but the budget sets how big the total is.
Your bill isn’t just “city tax.” It usually bundles several lines together: your municipality, police, library, the provincial school tax and regional district services. Even Saanich’s 2026 increase was split between core operations, capital projects, policing and libraries.
Your BC Assessment notice arrives early each January. If your assessed value looks wrong, you can request a review. The deadline is short, so check your notice as soon as it arrives on the BC Assessment website.
The Home Owner Grant: money you only get if you ask
When your property tax bill arrives, there’s one step you must not skip: claiming the Home Owner Grant. It isn’t automatic. If you don’t apply, you don’t get it.
According to the BC government’s Home Owner Grant page, you need to be the registered owner, live in the home as your principal residence when you apply, and have an assessed value under the yearly threshold.
| Home Owner Grant (2026) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Basic grant in the Capital, Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver regional districts | Up to $570 |
| Basic grant elsewhere in BC | Up to $770 |
| Full grant if assessed value is | $2,075,000 or less |
| Above the threshold | Reduced by $5 for every $1,000 |
The 2026 threshold dropped from $2,175,000 to $2,075,000. Most condos and townhouses fall well under it.
If you have kids, also look at BC’s property tax deferment program. It includes an option for families with children that lets eligible owners postpone paying their property tax. It’s a low-interest loan from the province, not a discount, so read the terms carefully.
Part 2: Down Payment & Cash CushionPart 3: Strata Fees & Condo ChecklistFiling Your First Tax Return
The speculation and vacancy tax: you declare even if you live there
This is the one people forget. The name suggests it’s only for speculators and empty-home owners. But if you own residential property in a designated area, you must normally declare every year, even when you live in the home full-time. The Capital Regional District, which includes Victoria and Saanich, is one of those areas.
The BC government’s SVT page sets out the yearly timeline:
- Mid-January to mid-February: your declaration letter arrives.
- March 31: declaration deadline.
- First business day of July: payment due if you owe anything, with a 10% penalty plus interest on late balances.
What if you forget? You’re charged at the maximum rate, as a percentage of your home’s full assessed value, even though a family living in its own home would normally owe nothing. A missed form can turn a $0 tax into a bill in the thousands.
Each owner declares separately. If you and your spouse are both on title, that’s two declarations.
The principal residence exemption also requires that the owner be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. If you bought while on a work permit, read the BC government’s exemptions page carefully.
A homeowner’s calendar for BC
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Early January | Check your BC Assessment value and decide whether to request a review |
| Mid-January to February | Watch for your SVT declaration letter |
| March 31 | SVT declaration deadline (each owner on title) |
| Late spring | Property tax notice arrives, so claim your Home Owner Grant |
| Early July | Property tax due (confirm your municipality’s exact date) |
| Policy renewal | Review home insurance coverage and deductibles |
| Every year (condos) | Attend the strata AGM and review the budget and fee changes |
What owning costs before you pay a cent of mortgage
Using the Victoria Core condo benchmark from Part 2 ($547,800), I added up what you’d pay just for owning the place. These are my working assumptions, not quotes.
| Yearly cost (assumptions) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Property tax after the Home Owner Grant | about $2,500 to $3,000 |
| Strata fees at $500 a month | $6,000 |
| Condo insurance | about $500 to $900 |
| Maintenance fund (appliances, small repairs) | about $1,500 to $3,000 |
| Total | about $10,500 to $12,900 a year |
That’s roughly $875 to $1,075 a month on top of the mortgage. And two of the biggest lines, property tax and strata fees, usually rise every year.
With a house, the strata fee disappears, but the roof, furnace, drainage and fence all become yours to fix. Either way, owning costs more than the mortgage payment.
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One thing that helped me plan for these costs was keeping a separate home fund apart from our down payment. If you’re setting one up, you can try Wealthsimple with my invite link or Questrade with referral code 326222326497424.
Seeing it from a renter’s side
We still rent, and writing this gave me a new appreciation for something I’d taken for granted.
As renters, we’ve never thought about BC Assessment, SVT declarations or grant applications. Our landlord handled all of it. Buying a home means taking on that paperwork, and those rising costs, ourselves.
That doesn’t make us want a home any less. It just means our budget now has a line for “owning” right next to the line for “buying.”
Two questions worth answering
I’ll be working overseas for a year. Do I have to pay the SVT?
Possibly not, but it depends on your situation. BC has specific exemptions for owners who are away from their principal residence for an extended time, and the conditions are strict. Check the exemptions page before you leave, not after.
Is this tax advice?
No. It’s a renter’s homework, shared so you can plan ahead. Your municipality and the BC government have the final word on your own bill.
About the author: Annie has called Vancouver Island home for about ten years and is currently planning her family’s first purchase. She writes about the parts of Canadian life that newcomers usually learn about by surprise.
If you own a home, open your phone’s calendar right now and set two yearly reminders: March 31, SVT declaration, and “claim the Home Owner Grant” for when your tax notice arrives. Those two minutes can save you a lot.
