Education property tax in Canada

Education property tax is the part of a property tax bill that helps pay for public schools. It goes by different names: education property tax in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan, school tax in British Columbia and Manitoba, and *taxe scolaire* in Quebec.

It is usually set by the province, not by the city, and it is charged on the same assessed value as the municipal portion. British Columbia explains why owners without children still pay it: "The tax is not based on whether you or your family use the public or private school system."

How the education portion works differs a lot across Canada: - One provincial rate for each property class (Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec). - A rate for each school district (British Columbia). - A provincial requisition that each municipality must raise (Alberta, Nova Scotia). - School division levies (Manitoba). - No separate education tax (New Brunswick, where the provincial portion of the bill helps fund schools, and Newfoundland and Labrador, which abolished school taxes in 1992).

In most places the municipality collects the education tax on its own bill and passes the money on. Quebec is the main exception: the school tax arrives on a separate bill. See how property tax is calculated for the general formula.

Ontario. O. Reg. 400/98 sets the rate: "For 2026, the tax rate for school purposes for residential property is prescribed as 0.153 per cent of the assessed value of the property." For the farm and managed forests classes the 2026 rate "is 0.03825 per cent". The residential rate is the same in every municipality. Rates for business classes vary by municipality and are set out in tables in the regulation. On a home assessed at $500,000, 0.153% works out to $765 of education tax.

Saskatchewan. The Province sets education property tax (EPT) mill rates by class. The 2026 rates are 1.07 mills for agricultural, 4.27 for residential, 6.37 for commercial/industrial and 7.49 for resource property, the same as in 2025. The Province says EPT collected by municipalities "is paid to the provincial government's General Revenue Fund most cases."

Quebec. The CGTSIM, which bills the school tax on the island of Montréal, says the rate "est déterminé annuellement par le ministère de l'Éducation du Québec" and is published in the *Gazette officielle* by June 15 each year. For 2026-2027 the rate is 0,07899 $ per 100 $, and "une exemption annuelle de base des premiers 25 000 $" applies to each school tax account. The CGTSIM's example: (430 000 – 25 000) x (0,07899 / 100) = 319,91 $.

More detail is on the Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec pages.

British Columbia. "Each year the province sets the residential school tax rate for each school district". The rate is based equally on the number of residences and the total residential assessed value in the district. Non-residential classes each have one rate set by the Province. Owners in a municipality pay school tax to the municipal office; owners in rural areas pay it to the Province's Surveyor of Taxes. High-value homes also pay the additional school tax rate, which BC Assessment determines.

Alberta. The education tax is a requisition. "Every year the province calculates, based on assessment value, the amount each municipality must contribute towards the public education system." For 2026-27 the provincial rates are "$2.84 per $1,000 of equalized assessment for residential/farmland properties and $4.17 per $1,000 of equalized assessment for non-residential properties". Each municipality then sets the local education rate that appears on bills, so the rate on a bill is not exactly $2.84.

Nova Scotia. Municipalities must make a minimum contribution to education. The regulation sets the rate used to calculate it at "$0.3048 per $100 of the uniform assessment" of the municipalities served. Bills show a local rate instead: Halifax's 2026/27 "Mandatory Provincial Education Tax Contribution" is $0.290 per $100, and Halifax adds a supplementary education rate of $0.015.

Manitoba. School taxes on a home are mainly the levy of the local school division, so they differ by division. Winnipeg's 2026 taxation summary says "2006 saw the elimination of the Education Support Levy from residential properties"; the levy, 7.511 mills in Winnipeg in 2026, now applies to other property, with farm property exempt. Winnipeg's 2026 school division special levies range from 11.851 mills (Pembina Trails) to 16.158 mills (Seven Oaks). The Manitoba page has more.

New Brunswick has no separate education tax on the bill. The Province says the tax owed "is based on local and provincial tax rates", and that the provincial portion helps fund provincial services including "education through schools". The provincial residential rate is $0.5617 per $100 of assessed value. An owner-occupant receives the Residential Property Tax Credit, which "reduces the provincial tax rate to $0 on the first 0.5 hectares of land around your home."

Newfoundland and Labrador abolished school taxes in 1992. The School Tax Authorities Winding Up Act states that "Every school tax authority constituted under the School Tax Act is abolished."

For Prince Edward Island and Yukon, the Prince Edward Island and Yukon pages list what each bill contains.

Northwest Territories. The Department of Finance lists the General Taxation Area education mill rate as 2.46 mills for 2026, up from 2.4 in 2025, and lists 2026 education mill rates of 2.41 for Fort Simpson, 2.22 for Fort Smith, 2.67 for Hay River, 3.04 for Inuvik and 3.74 for Norman Wells. Yellowknife sets its education rates by bylaw: its 2026 School Tax Levy By-law (No. 5138) raises money to meet the requisitions of the two school districts in the city.

Nunavut. The Mill Rate Establishment Order, 2026 (registered September 14, 2026) sets the education rate at "Iqaluit 0.00 mills" and "General Taxation Area 0.00 mills" for the 2026 calendar year, the same as the 2025 order. See the Nunavut page.

In provinces with separate (usually Catholic) school systems, owners may be asked which system their education tax supports.

Alberta. The Province says that "in communities where there are separate school jurisdictions, property owners must declare support for one school jurisdiction or another to determine where education property tax dollars should be directed." Money from public school supporters is pooled in the Alberta School Foundation Fund and paid out "on an equal per-student rate". "All separate school boards in the province have opted-out of the ASFF", so they collect directly from municipalities.

Saskatchewan. "Each separate school division decides whether to establish its own property tax mill rates or to participate in the provincial funding structure." Where a separate division sets its own rates, the municipality pays the tax to that division.

Alberta's education property tax page links to the declaration forms (Forms 6A to 6D) and a School Support Declaration Form Fact Sheet, and lists "declaration of school board support" among the matters handled by municipalities.

Some relief programs are measured against the education portion of the bill.

Manitoba. The Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit replaced the Education Property Tax Credit in 2025. "For 2026, the amount of the HATC is the lesser of $1,600 and the gross school taxes on your principal residence." For 2027 the maximum rises to $1,700, and "the maximum HATC benefit will be reduced for properties assessed over $1,000,000." The Seniors' School Tax Rebate "is being maintained at $235 minus 1.0% on family net annual income over $40,000 for principal residences only."

Saskatchewan. The Seniors Education Property Tax Deferral Program "provides eligible applicants with a repayable loan for the education property taxes for their principal residence."

Each program page quotes the official eligibility rules and links to the application.

Ontario. The 2026 Budget says planned legislative changes would mean that "beginning in 2028, municipalities would remit EPT directly to Ontario." School boards "would continue to receive their full funding" through provincial payments.

British Columbia. Budget 2026 changes how school tax rates are set: "Starting in 2026, the method used to increase school property taxes on the residential and non-residential classes will be the three-year average annual change in provincial nominal Gross Domestic Product." This replaces the policy in place since 2005. On October 28, 2026 the Province's school tax page still said rates are set so that average revenue per home "only increases by B.C.'s Consumer Price Index rate of inflation." Budget 2026 also raises the additional school tax: from 2027, the rate on residential value between $3 million and $4 million rises "from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent", and the rate on value over $4 million rises "from 0.4 percent to 0.6 percent."

Alberta. The Province says the 2026-27 rates raise the education requisition "from $3.1 billion in 2025-26 to $3.6 billion in 2026-27."

Manitoba. The larger HATC maximum of $1,700 and the reduction for homes assessed over $1,000,000 apply from the 2027 tax year.