Starting in 2025, the City will be charging an additional tax of one per cent of a property’s assessed value on any residential unit that is vacant for more than 183 days in a calendar year. Photo Credit: City of Hamilton/X.
The City of Hamilton’s vacant unit tax bylaw has received final approval from Council with the tax set to begin in 2025.
The City has also set rollout dates.
Council had approved the idea for a vacant unit tax back in January 2023, but a procedural vote to confirm the actual bylaw in November 2023 failed unexpectedly in a 6-6 vote.
Three councillors who were in support of the bill were absent for the November 2023 vote, and the tax, which was supposed to be implemented in 2024, was delayed.
However, a new motion to have the tax implemented in 2025 was brought forward and passed in January 2024 in a 9-6 vote.
A vote to confirm the bylaw passed this time, also 9-6, in April 2024.
Starting in 2025, the City will be charging an additional tax of one per cent of a property’s assessed value on any residential unit that is vacant for more than 183 days in a calendar year.
While the first year the tax will be payable is 2025, the tax will be based on the status of the property in the previous year (i.e. 2024).
Anyone who owns a residential unit must submit an annual mandatory declaration of the status of their property.
Those who fail to submit the declaration will have their unit considered vacant and will be charged the tax.
There are, however, a number of exceptions to the tax.
For example, a principal residence will not be subject to the vacant unit tax, but a mandatory declaration must still be submitted.
Other exemptions are if there is the death of an owner, major renovations, the sale of the property, a court order prohibiting occupancy, or if the principal resident is in care, institutionalized, or hospitalized.
Non-profit housing is also exempt.
The City also announced the rollout dates for the tax.
In December 2024, a letter with declaration instructions will be mailed to property owners.
Meanwhile, March 31, 2025, will be the mandatory declaration deadline, from April 1 to April 30, 2025 late mandatory declarations will be accepted with a fee, and in the first week of June 2025 vacant unit tax charges will be included in the final property tax bill.
The City will be conducting audits of the occupancy declarations on an annual basis to ensure compliance.
However, there are still a number of concerns with the tax, such as whether or not the program will actually end up costing the City.
Costs associated with implementing the tax total $2.6 million, while annual operating expenses going forward will be $2.2 million a year.
There is also concern that residents will be taxed accidentally if they do not properly declare their homes as occupied.
The City of Toronto’s rollout of their vacant unit tax was widely regarded as a disaster after more than 160,000 residents were mailed tax bills with a significant number sent in error.
There are also thousands of complaints as some property owners in Toronto say they were not aware of the tax or how to properly declare.
The tax is also strongly opposed by the Hamilton and District Apartment Association (HDAA), an association of residential property owners, managers, and suppliers.
HDAA President Daniel Chin wrote a letter to Hamilton City Council saying that the program will eventually result in a net deficit, that the City does not even know the number of vacant properties, that more taxes “discourage investment in cities”, and that it will result in distressed seniors and outraged property owners.
“The Vacant Unit Tax in Hamilton will have a very insignificant short-term impact on housing availability and will be a train wreck,” Chin wrote.
“It will be very costly, and more trouble than it is worth, as witnessed in this year’s Toronto vacant home tax fiasco.”
APRIL 2024 VACANT UNIT TAX BYLAW VOTE
IN FAVOUR (9): Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale), Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3 – East Hamilton Centre), Tammy Hwang (Ward 4 – Hamilton East), John-Paul Danko (Ward 8 – West/Central Mountain), Mark Tadeson (Glanbrook-Binbrook-Mount Hope), Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough), Ted McMeekin (Ward 15 – East Flamborough-Waterdown)
AGAINST (6): Matt Francis (Ward 5 – Hamilton East-Stoney Creek), Tom Jackson (Ward 6 – East Mountain), Esther Pauls (Ward 7 – Central Mountain), Brad Clark (Ward 9 – Upper Stoney Creek), Jeff Beattie (Ward 10 – Stoney Creek-Fruitland-Winona), Mike Spadafora (Ward 14 – West Mountain)
ABSTAINED (1): Mayor Andrea Horwath (Owns a property that is currently vacant.)
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
