A Markham tax certificate is an official document from the City of Markham that confirms the property tax status of a specific parcel. It costs $146.00 CDN, is ordered through the city’s online purchase form, and is delivered by email within two business days of payment.1City of Markham. Tax Certificate Purchase Form Real estate lawyers and mortgage lenders routinely require one during closings to verify that no hidden tax debts are attached to the property before ownership changes hands.
How to Order a Tax Certificate
Markham handles requests through an online purchase form on the city’s website. You enter the property’s roll number, municipal address, and the email where you want the certificate sent, add it to the cart, and pay by credit card. The fee is $146.00 CDN per certificate.1City of Markham. Tax Certificate Purchase Form
Review every field before you submit. The roll number is 19 digits, and the certificate will be issued for whatever number you enter. A typo means you’ve paid for a certificate on someone else’s property and have to start over.
Information You Need Before You Start
The city identifies properties by a 19-digit tax roll number. For Markham parcels, the number begins with 1936.2City of Markham. Property Assessment You can pull the roll number from your MPAC property assessment notice, a previous tax bill, or the deed. Cross-check it against at least two of those documents before ordering.
You also need the full municipal address and the legal description of the land, which usually includes lot and plan numbers from the deed or an earlier assessment notice. These give the city’s tax staff a second way to confirm they’re pulling the right account.
What the Certificate Shows
The certificate itemizes everything the property owes the City of Markham. The current-year tax levy appears first: the total billed for the active fiscal period, reflecting the assessed value multiplied by the combined municipal and education tax rates.
Unpaid balances from prior years show up as arrears. Where payments were missed or late, penalties and interest appear as separate line items. Markham charges a 1% penalty on any late installment plus 1.25% interest per month on the outstanding balance, compounded on the first of each month for as long as taxes remain unpaid.3City of Markham. About Your Tax Bill Those charges accumulate quickly and often become a negotiation point at closing.
If the owner has been granted a tax deferral, Ontario’s Municipal Act requires the treasurer to disclose the deferred amount and any accrued interest on the certificate.4Ontario.ca. Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25 Deferred taxes are still owed; they just haven’t come due yet. A buyer who overlooks that figure can be caught out when the deferral ends.
Local improvement charges also appear. These are special assessments for infrastructure work such as sewer upgrades or sidewalk replacements that benefit the specific property. They attach to the land, not the person, so they survive a sale. Miss this line and a buyer can inherit years of remaining payments on work the previous owner authorized.
Why Lawyers and Lenders Ask for One
Municipal property taxes in Ontario take priority over virtually every other claim against a property, including mortgages. If a seller owes back taxes at closing and no one catches it, the buyer inherits that debt with the deed. A lender faces the same risk from a different angle: unpaid municipal taxes can jump ahead of the mortgage in a collection scenario, reducing the value of the lender’s security. The certificate closes that gap by stating exactly what the property owes the city as of the date of issue.
Title insurers rely on it too. Before issuing a policy, underwriters typically want proof that taxes are current or that any outstanding amount will be paid from closing proceeds; without the certificate, the insurer may refuse coverage or list unpaid taxes as an exception to the policy.
Timing Around Your Closing
Order early. Lawyers generally need the certificate in hand before finalizing closing documents, and the two-business-day turnaround leaves little room if closing is days away. A week’s buffer before your expected closing date is a reasonable target, and ordering early in the week helps if city volumes slow things down near month-end or during peak spring and fall real estate seasons.
The certificate is a snapshot as of the date it’s issued. If closing gets pushed back by several weeks, your lawyer may ask for a fresh certificate to confirm no new charges or penalties have appeared in the meantime. At $146 each, that’s an expense worth avoiding by timing your order as close to the confirmed closing date as the two-day window allows.
One boundary to know about: supplementary taxes. When a property is newly built or recently renovated, MPAC may issue a supplementary assessment after the initial tax bill has gone out. A supplementary amount may not appear on the certificate if it was assessed after the certificate’s effective date. If the property has had recent construction, ask your lawyer whether a supplementary tax inquiry is needed in addition to the standard certificate.