Article
Should you appeal your property assessment?
Updated September 22, 2026 · 3 min read
Not every high-looking assessment is worth appealing. Some are right. Some are wrong by too little to matter. A few are low, and an appeal would invite an increase. Before you spend time on it, work through these five questions.
1. Is the gap real?
Compare your home with similar homes: same community, same type, similar age and size. Look at value per square foot, not total value. If your home is assessed well above the median of that group, you may have a point. If it's in line, your assessment is probably fair, even if it went up this year.
Also check the facts the assessor has on file. A wrong floor area, a basement recorded as finished, a garage you don't have: factual errors are the clearest grounds for a correction and the easiest to fix.
2. What would it save?
The saving is the reduction in assessed value multiplied by your tax rate.
Example (illustrative round numbers)
A $30,000 reduction at an example tax rate of 1% saves $300 a year. At an example rate of 0.3%, the same reduction saves $90.
Tax rates differ a lot between municipalities, so the same reduction can be worth very different amounts. In Alberta and BC, the reduction applies to one year's roll. In Ontario, it generally carries through the rest of the assessment cycle.
3. What would it cost you?
Doing it yourself costs time and, in some provinces, a filing fee. Using a service costs a fee. Ours is on the fee page. If your assessment doesn't go down, there is no share-of-savings fee, but the upfront fee still applies. Compare the likely saving with the total cost before you start.
4. Could it backfire?
Yes, sometimes. An assessor or board looking again can find reasons your value should be higher. That's most likely when your home is already assessed below similar homes, or when you've renovated in ways the roll doesn't show. If a review could plausibly raise your assessment, we tell you and don't recommend filing.
In Ontario there's one more consideration. An issue that has been settled or decided generally can't be argued again later in the same assessment cycle, so we only file when the case is strong.
5. Is there time?
Every province has a firm deadline, and most don't accept late filings:
- Alberta: 60 days after the notice of assessment date. See the Alberta guide.
- BC: January 31, or the next business day. See the BC guide.
- Ontario: March 31 for annual notices, or 120 days after the issuance date for supplementary and omitted assessments. See the Ontario guide.
If you're close to the deadline, ask the assessor for a review straight away, and be ready to file to protect your rights.
Putting it together
Appeal when the gap is real, the saving is meaningful after costs, the risk of an increase is low, and there's time to do it properly. Otherwise, keep your notice and check again next year.
Our free check answers the first four questions for you, with the numbers shown. You may be fairly assessed. If you are, we'll tell you.
A quick self-check
If you want a rough answer in five minutes, try this. Find your assessed value and your home's size on your notice. Find five or more similar homes nearby, of the same type, age and size, and note their assessed values and sizes. Work out value per square foot for each and put them in order. If yours sits in the middle of the pack, you're very likely fairly assessed. If it sits well above all of them, look closer at the facts on file, and consider asking the assessor for a review.
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