1. Property Tax Regressivity and Property Tax Relief Programs
Across Provinces in Canada*
– by David Murrell** and Yan Chu*
* Paper to be given at the Canadian Economics Association meetings, on May 30, 2010, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec.
** Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Brunswick at Fredericton
** graduate student, Department of Economics, University of New Brunswick at Fredericton

2. Calculating Aggregate Regresivity Indexes
(1)
where:
IN = the regressivity index
M = median of property taxes paid
1 = the first quartile of household income
4 = the fourth quartile of household income
Y = income of reference household before tax

3. SHS 2006-table 1. (Property tax- all owner occupied households)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
PROVINCP
HINC.H.ave
G010.H.ave
Percentage
MD1
MD4
RTB.1
60460
894.8
1.48
2.47
1.12
2.21
1453.3
2.33
3.81
1.64
2.32
1372.3
2.13
3.70
1.50
1139.5
1.89 3
1.29
2352.6
3.11
6.17
2.02
3.05
2978.1
3.18
7.07
2.15
3.28
2079.1
2.89
5.16
2.17
2.37
1910.2
2.67
5.33 2
1883.5
1.96
4.25
1.28
3.32
2129.5
2.63 5
1.74
2.87
1895.0
2.52
4.34
1.82
2.39

4. Table 3.Ranking MRTB.1 , by age group, by province, 2006
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
All Homeowners
Homeowners Under Age 65
Homeowners
Age 65-Plus
MRTB.1
2.96
2.72
5.24
1.93
2.89
2.73
4.77
1.75
2.6
2.43
4.14
1.70
2.51
2.35
3.77
1.61
2.42
2.26
3.81
1.68
2.15
2.05 3
1.47
1.89
1.81
3.62
2.00
1.88
1.7
2.80
1.65
1.64
1.51
2.75
1.82
1.27
1.17
1.94
1.67
2.25
2.08
3.59
1.72

5. Table 4. Labelling owner-occupied property-taxpayers: by age and income status
Age Situation
Poor
Non-poor
Senior A B
Non-senior C D

6. Property Tax Relief Prgms Maximum Household Income
Table 5. Description of Property Tax and Property Tax Relief By Province: 2005 year
Province
Program Title
Property Tax Relief Prgms
Maximum Household Income
 Newfoundland and Labrador
N/A
 Prince Edward Island
O-O Residential Tax Credit
Senior Citizen R-P-T Deferral Program
A, B, C& D
A&B
$30,000/year or less
 Nova Scotia
Property Tax Rebate Program
the CAP Assessment program A
A, B, C & D
(1)
 New Brunswick
Property Tax Allowance Program
A & C
$20,000/ year or less
 Quebec
Property Tax Refund
$18,467/year
 Ontario
Property Tax Credit
(2)
 Manitoba
Education Property Tax Credit
$15,000 for individual; $27,500 for seniors
 Saskatchewan
 Alberta
Education Property Tax Assistance for Seniors
 British Columbia
Basic and additional Home owner Grant
Source: Various provincial government websites ; N/A = No relief program exists

7. Table 6. Average Mortgage payments for homeowners age 65-plus, homeowners under age 65 and all homeowners in 2006 in Canada
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Homeowners Age 65-plus
Homeowners under Age 65
All Homeowners
Ratios
PROVINCE
Ave.Mort.H
 (1)/(2)
540.51
0.13
815.91
0.15
627.22
0.12
812.56
0.18
0.20
734.15
553.46
0.10
888.99

8. Table 7. Average Mortgage payments plus Average Property Tax Paid over household
income for homeowners age 65-plus, homeowners under age 65 and all homeowners in 2006 in Canada
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Homeowners Age 65-plus
Homeowners under Age 65
All Homeowners
 Ratios
PROVINCP
Ave.(Mort.PT)/Inc.H
(1)/(2)
3.89
7.60
7.12
0.51
5.03
10.09
9.39
0.50
4.65
9.35
8.58
5.33
8.22
7.82
0.65
7.27
9.73
9.44
0.75
7.86
12.07
11.54
6.07
9.57
9.08
0.63
5.29
8.35
7.87
5.43
9.90
9.51
0.55
5.98
13.58
12.39
0.44
5.92
10.15
9.59
0.58