Vancouver Empty Homes Tax

The City of Vancouver started the Empty Homes Tax in 2017 "to help address housing affordability and availability challenges in Vancouver." It is imposed under the Vacancy Tax By-law No. 11674.

The tax is based on a vacancy reference period equal to the calendar year. After the year ends, a property status declaration is due for each residential property; for the 2025 reference year the deadline was February 3, 2026. Only one declaration is required per property, so when a property is co-owned, one owner declares.

The City states that most properties are not subject to the tax, including those used as a principal residence by the owner, a family member, a friend or another permitted occupier for at least 6 months of the year, and those rented for residential purposes for at least 6 months, in periods of 30 or more consecutive days. Properties meeting an exemption are also not taxed.

A property declared empty, or deemed empty because no declaration was made, is taxed at 3% of its assessed taxable value. Declarations can be audited for up to 2 calendar years after the date of declaration. This City tax is separate from the provincial speculation and vacancy tax, and a Vancouver owner may have to pay both.

Residential property in the City of Vancouver. For the full-time employment and secondary residence exemptions, the by-law refers to "Greater Vancouver", which the City lists as the Village of Anmore, Village of Belcarra, City of Burnaby, City of Coquitlam, City of Delta, City of Langley, Township of Langley, Village of Lion's Bay, City of Maple Ridge, City of New Westminster, City of North Vancouver, District of North Vancouver, City of Pitt Meadows, City of Port Coquitlam, City of Port Moody, City of Richmond, City of Surrey, Tsawwassen First Nation, City of Vancouver, District of West Vancouver, City of White Rock, University Endowment Lands and University of British Columbia.

Besides the occupancy and rental rules, the City lists ten exemptions: death of registered owner; undergoing redevelopment or major renovations; owner in care; occupancy for full-time employment; transfer of property; court order; limited use residential property; vacant new inventory; hazardous or damaged residential property; and secondary residence for medical reasons.

Examples of the official wording: for the death exemption, "The property was unoccupied for more than 6 months because of the death of the registered owner in the applicable reference period or in the following period." For full-time employment, the owner's principal residence was outside Greater Vancouver but the owner "occupied your property for residential purposes for at least 6 months within the reference period because you were employed full-time in Greater Vancouver." Transfer of property applies when "Legal ownership was transferred during the reference period (the property was sold) and a new Land Title Number was issued."

The City notes that documentary evidence is not required at the time of declaration and is requested only if the property is selected for audit, and that the Vacancy Tax By-law prevails over its web content.

Online through the City's property status declaration, using the folio number and access code from the property tax notice. One declaration per property. Some statuses (for example rented, occupied by a family member or friend, or full-time employment) require extra details such as tenant or occupier names at the time of declaration. Help is available by phoning 3-1-1 (604-873-7000 from outside Vancouver).

For the 2025 reference year, the City lists April 16, 2026 as the Empty Homes Tax payment date. Previous years' unpaid tax was added to the property tax bill on December 31, 2025. The City states that late and unpaid Empty Homes Taxes are subject to the same penalties as property taxes, including a late payment penalty of 5%, daily interest on arrears and the tax sale process.

If no declaration is made by the deadline, the property is deemed vacant and taxed at 3% of its assessed taxable value, and the owner receives a $250 by-law ticket under section 5.2 of the Vacancy Tax By-law. For the 2025 reference year, a late declaration can be made until July 3, 2027 without the late filing penalty. After that, a non-refundable penalty of 5% of the vacancy tax levy extends the deadline to July 3, 2030. The City states that false declarations may result in fines of up to $10,000 per day of the continuing offence, in addition to the tax.

When an audit finds a property non-compliant, the City issues a supplementary tax notice with a due date of 34 days. An owner who disagrees can file a Notice of Complaint by the date on that notice, and can then request an external review by the deadline on the Notice of Complaint determination letter. By-law tickets have a separate dispute process.

The rate has been 3% since the 2021 reference year, after 1% for 2017 to 2019 and 1.25% for 2020; the City links to a May 2023 report to Council on maintaining the current rate. Since November 2023, late declarations can be made until the second business day in July of the year after the original deadline, and up to 5 years from the reference year with acceptable evidence. The City's Empty Homes Tax page, as captured on October 17, 2026, still showed only 2025 reference-year figures; no rate or deadline for the 2026 reference year was published there.