Empty homes face tax of one percent of provincial assessment, but some do not, writes Bob Aaron. The deadline for declarations has been extended.

The City of Toronto’s vacant home tax has caught many owners by surprise, and understanding all of the available exemptions remains a challenge. All owners of residential property were required to file a declaration of the 2022 occupancy status of their property by Feb. 2, 2023. Failure to file a declaration could result in a fine of between $250 and $10,000. I assume that the city’s legal department will be tasked with enforcement and that penalties and tax may automatically be added to the regular tax bill. The city website now says: “The online declaration portal will accept late declarations even after the February 2 deadline. Homeowners are encouraged to make a declaration of their property’s occupancy status as soon as possible to avoid any penalties. Reminder notices will be mailed out the week of February 13 to property owners who have not yet submitted a declaration.” No tax is payable if the property was vacant: due to the death of an owner; if it was undergoing extensive repairs; if the owner was in a hospital, long-term or supportive care facility for at least six months (but only for a maximum of two years); if the property was purchased in the previous year; or if it was required for occupation for employment purposes for at least six months and the owner lives elsewhere. If a home was, in fact, empty last year, and does not fall under these specific exemptions, there is a tax of one per cent of the current provincial assessment. The residence of someone in long-term care for more than six months in each of three or more years will be subject to the vacancy tax and they may be forced to sell or rent the property. Although the tax does not apply to apartment buildings, it does apply to condominiums and affects residential units owned by the condominium and used as a property management office. Units owned by snowbirds who spend more than six months away from their principal residence are also exempt. A residential unit is subject to the full vacancy tax if it is used as a pied-à-terre for business or leisure purposes and is not the owner’s principal residence or occupied by a friend or family member of the owner or tenant for more than six months of the year. An owner must have an assessment roll number for a residential unit in order to make the required declaration so new purchases from builders are exempt until they are assessed. If a condominium is 

Toronto’s vacant home tax a surprise, its exemptions confusing

New Statistics Canada data shows investors made up almost one third of homeowners in some provinces in 2020.

OTTAWA - New Statistics Canada data shows investors made up almost one-third of homeowners in some provinces in 2020.
The data agency says investors made up 31.5 percent of Nova Scotia’s homeowners that year and 29 percent of New Brunswick’s property holders.
Investors in British Columbia came in at 23.3 percent followed by 20.4 percent in Manitoba and 20.2 percent in Ontario.
When grouped together, the data agency’s calculations show under one in five homes in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia was considered an investment property in 2020.
Houses used as an investment were mainly owned by individuals living in the same province as the property.
However, condo apartments were used as an investment more often than houses, with Ontario alone seeing the highest rate of condo apartments used as investments at 41.9 percent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 3, 2023.


Investors made up 20 to 30% of homeowners in some provinces: Statistics Canada

With a polar vortex sweeping over Ontario, conversations surrounding homelessness have sparked fresh urgency.

In Toronto, outrage over encampment removals and concerns over warming centers have flooded the news and social media. In London, rising water levels are actively threatening encampments and those who rely on them. And although an Ontario Superior Court justice ruled in January against removing a homeless encampment from a municipally-owned property in Kitchener, it doesn’t change the reality that tents are not much more than a stopgap solution, and no match for the weather extremes Ontario now faces year-round.  It’s clear there are a lot of kinks to iron out when it comes to protecting vulnerable populations from weather extremes. Inventive approaches are needed and the solutions will hardly be one-size-fits-all. Tony Stortz knows this first-hand. As someone who has worked as an outreach coordinator for St. Mary’s Church in Kitchener and a site supervisor for A Better Tent City in the Waterloo region, he has a deep appreciation for what Ontario’s homeless residents are up against. Shelters are largely overrun, and even when shelter living is an option, not everyone has a sense of trust in the model. And for Stortz, finding a better solution is personal. “I had someone I was close with growing up, […] I went down one path and he went down another and ended up unsheltered in my hometown,” he tells STOREYS. “It all sort of boiled over for me one day in a Home Depot lumber aisle. I was looking around and there was plywood, doors in aisle 11, insulation in aisle 14. I thought, everything we need is right here, the land is there, why do we have people sleeping in bank vestibules and on doorways?” Taking a cue from A Better Tent City — something he refers to as a “pioneering model” for a successful tiny community for homeless in Canada — Stortz founded BetterStreet in December 2021 with the hopes of launching the model across the country. Through BetterStreet, Stortz is working with non-profit organizations and governments across southern Ontario municipalities with the intention of creating communities of tiny homes for those facing homelessness, drug addiction, and issues with mental health.  “I will say — and this is important — they’re not my projects. Each project will be independent. I’m just helping them do it,” Stortz explains. His role is to act as a consultant to get these communities off the ground and stabilized because there are a lot of moving pieces. He helps to build local leadership teams, tackle fundraising, and ensure the correct permitting is obtained. “People want to get this kind of thing going. People with connections and roots in the city, they want to do it but they don’t know how. They hire me because I know how to get it done.” But beyond just getting these communities built, a key part of Stortz’s vision is that these communities can be safe, productive, and somewhat self-governing in the long run. “It should be a system, a community of tiny homes where people live independently with some staff support, but they’re basically responsible for themselves,” he says. Meanwhile, the homes themselves will be equipped with insulation, electric heat sources, fireproofing and locking doors. “They get to live in a community, we don’t have keys to their front door, there’s no timeline on when they’re supposed to be out of there, and they’re able to use substances if that’s what they choose to do. The main priority is safety, not sobriety.”  Although Stortz is in talks with municipalities in Hamilton, Peterborough, Belleville, and Toronto, one major challenge he’s been confronted with is convincing them to waiver from the status quo. Because his model is not without risk. “I’d say there’s definitely been interest, but also a little bit of hesitation,” he says. “Municipalities, often, they’ve worked with the traditional shelter system for a long time. It’s like that old saying: if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. If the model you’re used to working with is a top-down shelter system style model, then that’s all you can imagine.” To date, the most significant progress has been made in Hamilton — volunteers, support services, donations, and insurance have been secured, and the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters is currently working with City Council to secure land. Belleville and Peterborough will likely be the next in line. “A Better Tent City in Kitchener is the model originally, so the big question is it a fluke, a unicorn, a one-off thing that’s only going to work in one place? Or is it a replicable model that can change people’s lives? I obviously believe it’s the latter,” says Stortz. Of course, Toronto is a different beast entirely. Although the City is increasingly grappling with affordability challenges, its homeless population is on the rise, and its shelter system is chronically overwhelmed. Toronto has resorted to temporary measures, including extending leases at temporary shelter sites, which currently make up 30% of the City’s shelter system. The need for alternative solutions in Toronto is clear and dire, but at the moment, Stortz says he is at the beginning stages of bringing BetterStreet to Toronto: consulting with local leadership and building a board of directors. In the meantime, he’s busy hashing out this idea as it progresses in other regions, taking cues from not only the communities involved in the projects underway but those who will be living in the homes. “They’re the experts,” he adds. “I’d like a tiny home community in every city that has a homelessness problem. If there are people sleeping on a bench outside, I think they should have a tiny home available as an option to them. If they choose to sleep outside, well then that is their prerogative and I respect that decision, but it should be a true, honest choice.” But ultimately, Stortz hopes to eventually put himself out of business. “My goal is, in 10 years, to have no clients and nobody to work with. I’m in the business of homelessness, and if you’re in this industry, and you’re not trying to end it, I don’t know what you’re doing,” he says. “I am hopeful.”

Could Tiny Homes Be a Solution for Homelessness?

Despite the rocky real estate climate, many Canadians still have their sights set on homeownership. 

Despite the rocky real estate climate, many Canadians still have their sights set on homeownership.  At a time when the cost of homeownership in many urban centers is out of reach for those without familial help, owning a home is still a priority (even if also a pipe dream) for 67% of Canadians, according to new research.  Personal finance company NerdWallet teamed up with The Harris Poll to survey 1,012 Canadian adults aged 18 and older on whether homeownership was in their future.  Almost half (43%) stated that they are looking to buy a property within the next five years, though just 5% say they plan to purchase said home within the next year, a period when interest rates are expected to remain restrictively high. Despite the optimism, the reality remains that we’re in an era of both sky-high interest rates and home prices. The (slightly head-scratching) reality also remains that, of those surveyed who planned to purchase a home in the next five years, 24% said they haven’t started saving for it yet. Despite this, 76% of Canadians who plan to buy a home in the next five years plan to use a down payment. Presumably, that’s where parents and or family members will come into play. The absence of this — and a sufficient down payment — will prevent millions of Canadians from becoming homeowners, cautions the report. The age group most eager to become homeowners within the next three years are those aged 18 to 34 (37%), followed by those aged 35 to 44 (36%).    Whether their dreams of homeownership materialize or not, 34% of those surveyed said they wanted to buy a home because they think it’s a good investment. Meanwhile, 20% of respondents said they wanted to pass it down to their future children while 19% say it’s because they want their monthly housing payments to go toward equity rather than rent. Other not-so-surprising reasons for wanting to buy a home included a desire for more space and planning for the future. As it turns out, non-homeowners and homeowners share many of the same challenges. As the report highlights, homeowners can sometimes have an advantage over non-homeowners when buying homes, but a majority of both groups — 70% of non-homeowners and 57% of homeowners — say something, including things like market forces or financial challenges, is preventing them from pursuing homeownership at this time.  Well, at least they know they’re not alone.

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