What it means, why your assessment changed, how tax rates work, and historical tax rate trends.

🏡 1. What Is a Property Assessment?

A property assessment in Calgary is the City’s estimate of what your home might sell for on the open market at a specific valuation date.

⚠️ Important: An assessment is not your property tax bill — it’s just a value estimate.

Assessments help determine how the City divides the total tax burden among all property owners, but they do not, by themselves, tell you how much tax you’ll actually pay.

🔍 2. Assessment vs Property Tax: Why They’re Not the Same

The key difference lies in this formula:

Property Tax=Assessed Value×Tax Rate\textbf{Property Tax} = \textbf{Assessed Value} \times \textbf{Tax Rate}Property Tax=Assessed Value×Tax Rate

That means your tax bill depends on:

1. Your assessed value, and

2. The tax rate set by the City and Province.

📌 Important Insight:

If your assessment goes up, it does not automatically mean your tax bill will go up.

The City calculates taxes based on the relative share of your assessed value compared to all properties in Calgary and the total amount of revenue needed — not just your individual property.

📊 3. Calgary Property Tax Rates: 2018–2025

Here’s how Calgary’s combined residential property tax rate has changed over time. These numbers include both the municipal and provincial/education portions:

📌 Sources: Official City of Calgary tax rate data and municipal tax summaries.

Notes:

• The “combined rate” is what actually gets applied to your assessment to calculate your tax bill.

• Rates are adjusted yearly based on City Council budgets and provincial education tax requirements.

📈 4. What This Trend Tells Us

📍 Property Tax Rates Have Generally Declined

From 2018 to 2025, the combined residential tax rate in Calgary has trended downwards, despite fluctuation.

👉 In 2025, the combined rate was 0.61803%, lower than the early 2020 rates (near 0.75%).

📍 But Lower Rates Don’t Always Mean Lower Tax Bills

Even though the rate has come down, assessed values have increased, meaning:

• Your tax amount paid may still be higher than in past years

• A lower rate can be offset by a higher assessment

📊 5. Example: Hypothetical Tax Bills Over Time

Let’s compare what happens if a home were assessed at $700,000 in different years:

Even though the 2025 rate is lower than 2020, the actual amount paid also depends on assessment trends.

📍 6. What to Expect in 2026

City Council has approved a 1.6% increase in municipal property tax revenue for 2026. That means:

• The municipal portion of the tax rate will rise slightly

• The final combined 2026 tax rate (municipal + provincial/education) will be confirmed once Alberta finalizes the education tax portion

⚠️ Final official rates for 2026 are typically published later in the spring each year.

🤔 7. When a Higher Assessment Doesn’t Mean Higher Taxes

Your assessment and your taxes can move independently because:

✔ If everyone’s assessments go up by the same amount, your relative share stays the same, so your taxes may not change much.
✔ If overall assessments rise faster than tax revenue needs, the tax rate could fall to balance it out.
✔ A higher assessment but stable or reduced tax rate can mean the tax bill stays flat or increases only slightly.

📍 8. How to Review Your Assessment

Check:

• Whether the property details in the City’s records are correct

• How your home compares to recent sales of similar properties

• How your assessed value relates to market reality

If you believe the assessment is incorrect, you can request a review with the City — but mistakes must be factual (like incorrect size or features) rather than just “I think the market is different.”

📅 9. Join the City’s FREE Webinar

Ask the City Assessor – 2026 Property Assessment Q&A
📆 January 28, 2026
🕖 7:00 PM (Online, Microsoft Teams)
💻 Free to attend

This webinar gives homeowners insight into:

• How assessments are calculated

• What affects assessment changes

• How the process works (not individual property specific)

👉 Official link:
https://www.calgary.ca/property-owners/assessment/ask-the-assessor.html

🧾 Key Takeaways

🔹 Assessment = Market Value Estimate
🔹 Tax Bill = Assessment × Tax Rate
🔹 A higher assessment does not automatically mean higher taxes
🔹 Understanding both rates and values is essential
🔹 2026 tax rates will be finalized later in the spring

— REAB | reab.ca