Durham Region property tax is a single bill collected by your local municipality that bundles three separate rates — your city or township’s municipal rate, Durham Region’s regional rate, and the Province of Ontario’s education rate — applied to the value MPAC has assigned your property. Because the province has frozen reassessments at January 1, 2016 values, that assessed figure has likely held steady for years even as market prices moved. What changes your bill from one year to the next is almost always the rate, not the value.
What Makes Up Your Tax Bill
Three rates stack together on every Durham Region property:
- The municipal rate, set each year by your local council, pays for fire protection, parks, recreation, and local road maintenance.
- The regional rate, set by Durham Regional Council, funds region-wide services including public health, regional police, transit, social services, waste collection, and the regional road network.
- The education rate is set by the Province of Ontario. For 2026, the residential education rate is 0.153 percent of assessed value.1Government of Ontario. O Reg 400/98 – Tax Matters, Rates for School Purposes
Durham Region has eight local municipalities, and each one sets its own municipal rate and installment dates, then collects taxes on behalf of the Region and the Province.2Region of Durham. Durham Region 101 Your combined rate and your due dates depend on which municipality you live in.3Town of Ajax. Property Taxes
How Your Assessed Value Is Set
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, an independent body established under Ontario law, assesses every property in the province.4Government of Ontario. Municipal Property Assessment Corporation Act, 1997 MPAC uses Current Value Assessment, which estimates what your property would sell for on the open market based on location, lot size, square footage, age, construction quality, and comparable sales.5Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. How We Assess Residential Properties
Ontario normally runs a four-year reassessment cycle, but the province has repeatedly delayed the next cycle. Every assessment in Durham Region currently reflects a January 1, 2016 valuation date. Your assessed value may now sit well below your home’s market price, and it will stay there until the province lifts the freeze.
The Math Behind Your Bill
Multiply your Current Value Assessment by your municipality’s combined tax rate. If MPAC assessed your home at $400,000 and the combined municipal, regional, and education rate works out to 1.2 percent, your annual property tax is $4,800. The regional and municipal portions shift each year based on approved budgets; the education rate is set provincially. With assessed values frozen, rate changes are usually the only reason your bill moves.
Interim and Final Bills
You receive two bills a year.6City of Oshawa. Tax Collections and Billing The interim bill arrives early in the year and equals 50 percent of the previous year’s total taxes, keeping money flowing to your municipality before current-year budgets are finalized. Once Regional Council and your local council approve their budgets, the final bill covers the remaining balance at the new rates.
Each municipality sets its own installment schedule by bylaw. Oshawa’s interim installments fall in the last week of February and the last week of April, and its final residential installments are due in the last week of June and the last week of September.6City of Oshawa. Tax Collections and Billing Other Durham municipalities follow a similar pattern with dates that shift by a few weeks. Check your local tax office for the exact deadlines that apply to you.
Supplementary Bills After Renovations
If you’ve improved your property, expect a separate bill outside the normal cycle. MPAC issues a supplementary assessment when work increases your property’s assessed value by at least 5 percent or $10,000, whichever is less, or when the property is reclassified.7Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. Supplementary and Omitted Property Assessments Finishing a basement, adding on, or building a new garage are typical triggers. An omitted assessment covers a property or portion that was left off the roll, and MPAC can reach back up to two preceding taxation years. If the increase falls below the threshold, MPAC rolls it into the following year rather than issuing a separate bill.
How to Pay
Durham municipalities accept payment several ways, with small variations between them:
- Pre-authorized payment plan, where your municipality withdraws funds automatically on set dates. Enroll before the first installment deadline for the plan to take effect.
- Online or telephone banking through most Canadian financial institutions. Add your municipality as a payee using your property tax roll number. Payments take a few business days to post, so don’t wait for the due date.
- In person or by mail at your local municipal office; some offices have after-hours drop boxes.
- Through your mortgage lender, if your mortgage includes a tax account. Your lender collects a portion of estimated taxes with each mortgage payment and remits it on your behalf. Not all mortgages work this way, so confirm with your lender.
Whichever method you choose, the payment has to arrive by the installment date to count as on time.
What a Late Payment Costs
Under the Municipal Act, your municipality can charge a penalty of up to 1.25 percent of the unpaid amount on the first day you’re late, plus another 1.25 percent on the first day of each subsequent month the balance stays outstanding.8Government of Ontario. Municipal Act, 2001 SO 2001 c 25 – Section 345 That reaches a maximum of 15 percent per year on the unpaid balance. The penalties get added to your tax roll and are collected the same way as taxes.
Charges compound quickly. A $5,000 overdue balance can draw up to $62.50 in penalties in the first month alone, and the base keeps growing. A municipality cannot charge both a penalty and interest for the same period of default, but it can set different interest rates by bylaw for ongoing arrears.8Government of Ontario. Municipal Act, 2001 SO 2001 c 25 – Section 345 If you know a payment will be short, call your local tax office before the due date; some municipalities will work out an arrangement.
Sustained Non-Payment: Tax Sale
Letting property taxes go unpaid for years puts the property itself at risk. Once arrears have accumulated long enough, your municipality can register a tax arrears certificate on title. That starts a redemption period of either one year or 90 days depending on the property type, during which you can pay the full cancellation price (all arrears, penalties, interest, and administrative costs) to clear the certificate.9Government of Ontario. O Reg 181/03 – Municipal Tax Sales Rules If the cancellation price isn’t paid in that window, the municipality can sell the property at public auction. Extensions exist only if you reach an agreement with the municipality before the redemption period ends.
Appealing Your Assessment
If you think MPAC overvalued your property, there’s a two-step process you have to follow in order.
Request for Reconsideration
For residential, farm, and managed forest properties, start with a Request for Reconsideration filed directly with MPAC. There is no fee. Submit evidence supporting a lower value — a recent appraisal, comparable sales, documentation of defects MPAC may have missed. MPAC usually responds in writing within 180 days and can extend by up to 60 more.10Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. How to File a Request for Reconsideration If MPAC agrees, it issues a revised Property Assessment Notice and tells your municipality to adjust your tax account.
Assessment Review Board
If reconsideration doesn’t settle it, you can appeal to the Assessment Review Board, an independent tribunal under Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General. You have 90 days from the mailing date on MPAC’s decision letter to file. The filing fee is $132.50 per roll number for residential properties and $318 per roll number for commercial or industrial, with a $10 discount for electronic filing.11Tribunals Ontario. Filing an Appeal
The 2016 assessment freeze doesn’t close off appeals. If MPAC’s data on your property is wrong (incorrect square footage, rooms that don’t exist) or there are physical issues that make your home worth less than comparable properties, a successful appeal can still produce a reduction.
Relief Programs and Credits
Durham Region runs a Reassessment Deferral Program that lets eligible homeowners defer reassessment-related tax increases over 5 percent or $100 on their principal residence. Eligibility is limited to low-income seniors aged 65 or older receiving the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement, or people with disabilities receiving Ontario Disability Support Program benefits. Because the province paused the reassessment cycle, there have been no reassessment-related increases since 2020, and the program is effectively closed until the next reassessment reopens it.12Region of Durham. Property Taxes
The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit, delivered through the Ontario Trillium Benefit, is available more broadly. You qualify if you lived in Ontario on December 31 of the previous year and paid rent or property tax on your principal residence that year.13Canada Revenue Agency. Province of Ontario You claim it through your personal income tax return, and payments arrive monthly starting in July, or as a lump sum if the annual amount is $360 or less.
One boundary worth knowing: property taxes on your principal residence are not deductible on your Canadian federal income tax return. There is no Canadian equivalent of the U.S. itemized deduction. The Trillium credit above is the main way homeowners recover a portion through the tax system, so file on time to avoid delaying those payments.