Surrey property tax for 2026 is charged at a total residential rate of 3.42731 per $1,000 of assessed value, and the bill is due July 2. Miss that date and a 10% penalty is added automatically, with no discretion to waive it. The rate combines the city’s own levy with charges collected on behalf of the province, TransLink, and Metro Vancouver, and your assessed value is set by BC Assessment based on what your property would have sold for on July 1 of the previous year.1BC Assessment. Understanding the Assessment Process
What You’ll Owe
To estimate your bill, multiply your assessed value by 3.42731 and divide by 1,000. A home assessed at $1,200,000 owes roughly $4,113 before any grants. The 2026 residential rate breaks down like this:2City of Surrey. Property Tax Rates
- Municipal services: 1.84251, covering police, fire, bylaw enforcement, parks, recreation, roads, and general operations.
- Provincial school tax: 1.13480, charged on every property regardless of whether the household uses public schools.3Province of British Columbia. School Tax
- TransLink: 0.35860 for regional transit.
- Metro Vancouver Regional District: 0.05310 for regional utilities, water, and sewage.
- BC Assessment and Municipal Finance Authority: 0.03830 combined.
Residential properties are taxed at different rates than commercial or industrial classes, so if your notice looks off, confirm your property classification first. You can look up your folio number, assessment history, and classification through the City of Surrey’s Property Information Portal.4City of Surrey. Property Information Portal
Secondary Suite Fee
If your property has a registered secondary suite, a flat $893 annual fee is added to the tax notice to cover extra utility demand.5City of Surrey. Secondary Suites If the city discovers an unregistered suite, a separate $1,000 charge applies on top of the annual fee.
How to Lower the Bill: Home Owner Grant
The provincial Home Owner Grant reduces the tax owed on your principal residence. In the Metro Vancouver area, which includes Surrey, the basic grant is $570.6Province of British Columbia. Home Owner Grant You have to apply each year through the provincial online portal, even if nothing has changed. If your mortgage company pays your taxes for you, that does not include claiming the grant. You are responsible for that step yourself.
The grant phases out on higher-value homes. For 2026 the threshold is $2,075,000, and the grant shrinks by $5 for every $1,000 of assessed value above it. The basic $570 disappears entirely at roughly $2,189,000.
Seniors, Veterans, and People with Disabilities
If you are 65 or older, a veteran, or a person with a permanent disability, the grant in the Metro Vancouver area rises to $845.7Province of British Columbia. Home Owner Grant for Seniors A first-time disability claim at a property requires Form B (FIN 74), the Certificate of Health Professional and Property Owner, signed by a qualified health professional.8Province of British Columbia. Home Owner Grant for People With Disabilities The higher grant phases out at roughly $2,244,000 in assessed value.
Low-Income Supplement for Seniors
Seniors whose property sits above the phase-out threshold may still qualify for a separate low-income supplement. If adjusted household net income is $32,000 or less, the province issues a cheque for up to $845 to offset the lost grant.9Province of British Columbia. Low Income Grant Supplement for Seniors Between $30,000 and $32,000 the supplement is reduced. The application deadline is December 31 of the current tax year.
Missed Last Year’s Grant
You can file a retroactive Home Owner Grant application for the previous tax year as long as the province receives it by December 31 of the current year.10Province of British Columbia. Retroactive Home Owner Grant This catches a lot of new homeowners who assumed the grant was applied automatically or handled by their lender.
Deferring Your Taxes
British Columbia lets qualifying homeowners postpone paying property tax. The province pays the amount on your behalf after the due date and registers a restrictive lien on the title.11Province of British Columbia. Property Tax Deferment Program The balance plus interest comes due when you sell, transfer, or otherwise stop qualifying.
- Regular Program: for owners 55 or older, a surviving spouse, or a person with disabilities, with at least 25% equity in the home based on assessed value.
- Families With Children Program: for owners supporting a dependent child under 18, with at least 15% equity.
Interest accrues over time. For deferrals starting from the 2026 tax year, the province has proposed charging interest at prime plus 2%, compounded monthly, a significant increase from earlier below-prime simple-interest rates. Confirm the current rate with the Ministry of Finance before you sign on, because the total cost over ten or twenty years is meaningful. The first application is one-time, but renewal is annual, and the deadline aligns with the July tax due date.
Paying the Bill
The City of Surrey does not accept credit cards for property taxes.12City of Surrey. Paying Your Property Taxes Accepted methods:
- Online banking, telephone banking, or ABM, using your folio number as the account identifier.
- Cheque or money order by mail, payable to City of Surrey with the folio number on it. Post-dated cheques are accepted.
- In person at the Property and Payment Services counter at City Hall (13450 104 Avenue) or the Surrey Operations Centre (6651 148 Street).
- The 24-hour drop box near the south entrance of City Hall.
- Your mortgage company, if your lender pays taxes on your behalf. You still have to claim the Home Owner Grant yourself.
The Pre-Authorized Pre-Payment Plan Trap
The Pre-Authorized Pre-Payment Plan (PAPP) spreads estimated taxes and utilities across monthly withdrawals from August through May, applying the accumulated funds to utilities in February and property tax in May. What trips people up: PAPP does not clear your full balance. It runs on an estimate of next year’s taxes and does not withdraw in June or July, so a residual amount almost always remains on the July notice. You have to pay that difference and claim the Home Owner Grant separately by July 2, or the 10% penalty applies to whatever is left.
What Happens If You’re Late
Notices go out at the end of May, and the due date is July 2, or the next business day when July 2 falls on a weekend or holiday. Any unpaid portion of the current year’s taxes is hit with a 10% penalty automatically. Staff cannot waive the penalty for mail delays, banking errors, or oversight; the Community Charter makes it non-discretionary.
Unpaid amounts do not stop there. After December 31 of the year they are levied, they become taxes in arrears. One year later, if still unpaid, they become delinquent. Delinquent taxes make the property eligible for a tax sale, a public auction held on the last Monday in September.13Government of British Columbia. Municipal Property Tax Sales: An Introduction and Best Practices Roughly two and a half years of non-payment can put a property on the block.
After a tax sale, a one-year redemption period lets the owner buy the property back by paying the full delinquent taxes, interest, and costs. Once that year passes, title transfers permanently to the purchaser. Sales are rare for owner-occupied homes and more common for vacant land or properties where the owner has become unreachable.
Challenging Your Assessment
If BC Assessment has overvalued your property, start with an informal call to BC Assessment as soon as your January notice arrives. Many disputes resolve at that stage.
If not, file a formal complaint with the Property Assessment Review Panel. The deadline is January 31, though in 2026 it shifted to February 2 because January 31 fell on a weekend.14BC Assessment. About Appeals Miss it and your options narrow sharply. At the hearing, the strongest evidence is comparable sales of similar properties in your neighbourhood. Arguments framed as year-over-year percentage jumps, such as pointing out that your assessment rose 15% while the market only rose 8%, are explicitly not accepted as valid evidence.15Government of British Columbia. Preparing for Your PARP Hearing – Step-by-Step A successful appeal lowers your assessed value, and the tax owed drops with it; the rate itself doesn’t change.
Don’t Forget the Speculation and Vacancy Tax Declaration
Surrey sits inside the taxable region for British Columbia’s speculation and vacancy tax. Every residential owner has to file an annual declaration by March 31, even if the home is your full-time residence and you clearly owe nothing.16Province of British Columbia. Speculation and Vacancy Tax Skip the declaration and the tax is charged automatically. For 2026, the rate is 3% of assessed value for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners and 1% for specified Canadian citizens and permanent residents who don’t occupy the property. Principal residents and qualifying tenanted properties are exempt once the declaration is filed. Payment, if owed, is due July 2, the same day as property tax.