Mill rates explained

Regina defines it this way: a mill rate is "The tax per dollar of assessed value of property. The rate is expressed in \"mills\", where one mill is one-tenth of a cent ($0.001). Mill rates are set by each taxing authority to raise the revenue required by their budget."

So 1 mill = $0.001 of tax per $1 of assessment = $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessment. A rate of 10 mills means $10 of tax for each $1,000 of value that is taxed.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba cities publish rates in mills: Winnipeg's 2026 municipal mill rate is 13.372, and Regina's 2026 municipal mill rate is 12.25600. Other places use other formats for the same idea; see the conversion section below.

Multiply the taxable value by the mill rate and divide by 1,000:

Tax = taxable value × mill rate ÷ 1,000

The Government of Saskatchewan's example: "if your taxable assessment is $81,700, the municipal portion of your property tax will be $81,700 x 10.0 / 1,000 = $817."

A bill usually has several mill rates, one per taxing body, and they are added together. In Winnipeg for 2026, a home in the Winnipeg School Division has a combined residential rate of 29.366 mills: the municipal rate of 13.372 plus the Winnipeg School Division rate of 15.994. In Manitoba these mills apply to the portioned value, which for Winnipeg's Residential 1 class is 45.0% of assessed value. A home assessed at $400,000 has a portioned value of $180,000, and $180,000 × 29.366 ÷ 1,000 = $5,285.88 before provincial tax credits. See Winnipeg.

Each taxing authority sets its rate from its budget. In Saskatchewan, council sets the uniform mill rate "by dividing the amount of taxation revenue it requires by the total taxable assessment, and multiplying that number by 1,000." The Province's example: "a municipality with a total taxable assessment of $34,200,000 requires property tax revenue of $342,000. The tax rate is $342,000 / $34,200,000 x 1,000 = 10.0 mills."

That is why mill rates move every year. Winnipeg's 2026 municipal mill rate of 13.372 "has increased by 3.5 % from 2025 to incorporate property tax increase in 2026," and its Provincial Education Support Levy mill rate for 2026 is 7.511, "an increase of 1.5% from 2025." Its school division rates changed by between 2.4% (Seven Oaks) and 10.9% (Seine River). Winnipeg notes that "The percent change in the mill rate will be the increase in your school taxes prior to any Provincial tax credits being applied".

When a revaluation raises values across a municipality, the rate needed to raise the same revenue falls, so a lower mill rate after a revaluation does not by itself mean lower taxes.

The same rate can be written four ways:

- 10 mills = $10 per $1,000 = $1.00 per $100 = 1% = 0.01 per dollar

To convert: mills ÷ 10 = percent; mills ÷ 10 = dollars per $100; mills = dollars per $1,000.

Official examples for 2026:

- Percentage. Toronto's 2026 total residential rate is 0.767311% (7.67311 mills). - Per dollar. Calgary's 2026 total residential rate is 0.0066499 (6.6499 mills). - Per $1,000. Saanich publishes "dollars of tax per $1000 of taxable value"; its 2026 total residential rate in School District 61 is 5.2008 (5.2008 mills). - Per $100. Halifax states "All tax rates are per $100 of assessed value"; its 2026/27 urban general rate is $0.687 (6.87 mills). Montréal's rates "sont appliqués sur chaque tranche de 100 $ de la base d'imposition."

Labels are not always consistent. Whitehorse calls its 2026 residential rate of 1.097 a mill rate, but applies it as a percentage: "a residential property assessed at $200,000 in 2026 will have a tax levy of: 1.097% x $200,000 = $2,194." Always check how the municipality applies its own figure.

A mill rate factor is a Saskatchewan tax tool that shifts municipal taxes between property classes. Regina: "A mill rate factor is a tax policy tool used to redistribute the amount of total taxes paid by each property class and subclass. Changes to a mill rate factor will not increase or decrease the total amount of taxes collected annually".

The factor multiplies the municipal calculation: "If the mill rate factor is greater than 1.0, the resulting property taxes will be higher; if the mill rate factor is less than 1.0, the resulting property taxes will be lower" (Government of Saskatchewan). Tax tools "may only be applied to municipal property taxes", not to the education levy.

Regina's 2026 factors are 0.88032 for residential, condominium and multi-residential property and 1.33303 for commercial. Its residential municipal levy is Taxable Assessment × 12.25600 × 0.88032 ÷ 1000, so the effective municipal rate on a home is lower than the published 12.25600 mills. See Regina and the Saskatchewan overview.

Not directly. A mill rate applies to the taxable value, and what counts as taxable value differs by province:

- Winnipeg applies its mills to a portioned value of 45% of assessed value for Residential 1 property. - Regina applies mills to a taxable assessment of 80% of assessed value (the Province's residential percentage of value for the 2025-2028 property tax years), and applies a mill rate factor to the municipal and library levies. - Toronto, Calgary, Saanich and Whitehorse apply their rates to the full assessed (or, in Ontario, phased-in) value. - Assessed values are set as of different dates in each province; see assessed value vs market value.

To compare, convert each rate into tax as a share of assessed value. Using the 2026 figures above: the Winnipeg School Division combined rate of 29.366 mills on 45% works out to about 1.32% of assessed value; a Regina home assessed at $300,000 (taxable assessment $240,000; 2026 municipal, library and school levies of $2,589.41 + $229.47 + $1,024.80 = $3,843.68) to about 1.28%; Toronto's residential rate is 0.767311%; Calgary's 0.66499%. These figures still exclude credits, grants and flat charges, and the assessed values behind them are not measured the same way. The compare page applies the same method across cities.