Glossary
- Assessed value
The value the assessor gives your property for tax purposes. Your tax is based on it, together with the tax rate.
- Assessment notice
The document the assessor sends you each year (or when something changes) showing your assessed value. In Alberta the date printed on it, the notice of assessment date, starts your complaint window.
- Assessment roll
The full list of properties and their assessed values in a municipality or province for a given year.
- Assessor
The professional who values properties. It's your municipality in Alberta, BC Assessment in British Columbia, MPAC in Ontario, and the municipal or regional assessment office in Quebec.
- Tax rate (mill rate)
The rate your municipality applies to your assessed value to work out your tax. It's set by council each year.
- Equity (uniformity)
The idea that similar properties should be assessed at similar values. Our check measures how your home compares with similar homes.
- Cohort
The group of similar homes we compare you with, from the same community, of the same type and of similar age and size.
- Comparable property
A property similar enough to yours to be a fair point of comparison.
- Median
The middle value when values are put in order. One unusual house doesn't move it much.
- Record error
A fact on file about your property that's wrong, such as living area, year built, basement finish or garage.
- Customer review period
A period after notices go out when Calgary and Edmonton invite owners to discuss their assessment with an assessor, before any complaint.
- Complaint (Alberta)
The formal request for an assessment review board to hear your case. It's due 60 days after the notice of assessment date and must include the municipality's fee.
- Assessment review board (Alberta)
The independent panel that hears Alberta assessment complaints and decides the value.
- PARP (Property Assessment Review Panel)
The independent BC panels that hear assessment complaints each winter. Complaints are due by January 31, or the next business day.
- PAAB (Property Assessment Appeal Board)
BC's appeal board for owners who disagree with a review panel decision. Appeals are due by April 30 following the panel.
- MPAC
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, which assesses every property in Ontario.
- RFR (Request for Reconsideration)
The first step in Ontario, asking MPAC to reconsider your assessment. For a home, it has to come before any appeal to the ARB.
- ARB (Assessment Review Board, Ontario)
Ontario's independent tribunal for assessment appeals. Representation there is by a lawyer or paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.
- Issuance date
The date printed on an Ontario notice or decision. The 120-day and 90-day windows are counted from it, not from the day you received it.
- Supplementary assessment
An Ontario assessment added part-way through a year, often when a new home is finished or a major addition is built. It usually leads to a bill going back to that date.
- Omitted assessment
An Ontario assessment for something that should have been on the roll but was missed. It can go back more than a year.
- Section 357 application
An Ontario application to your municipality, not MPAC, to cancel, reduce or refund taxes for reasons listed in the Municipal Act, such as demolition, fire damage or a change of tax class.
- Section 358 application
An Ontario application to your municipality to fix taxes caused by a gross or manifest clerical or factual error in the roll.
- Tax class
The category your property belongs to (for example residential or commercial), which sets the tax rate that applies.
- Demande de révision
Quebec's request for a review of an assessment, filed with the assessment office that serves your municipality.
- Settlement-first
Our approach of asking the assessor to review before filing any formal complaint, and filing only to protect your rights.
- Share-of-savings (contingency) fee
The part of our fee that depends on the result. It's charged only if your assessment goes down.
- Cooling-off period
A period after signing when you can cancel and get the upfront fee back. Its length depends on your province and is stated in your engagement letter.
- Pre-authorized debit (PAD)
A payment you authorize us to take from your bank account. We notify you before each debit.
- Exploration filing
A borderline case we offer to file at our own cost, with the owner's consent, to check that our "fairly assessed" calls are right.
Words on your notice that aren't listed here? Write to hello@canadataxappeal.com and we'll explain them.