A Winnipeg property tax assessment is the city’s estimate of what your property would have sold for on a fixed reference date, and that figure drives the taxes you owe. For the 2025–2026 cycle, assessed values reflect what properties were worth on April 1, 2023. The city then applies a portioning percentage based on your property class and multiplies the result by mill rates — the combined 2026 municipal mill rate is 13.372 — to arrive at your bill.1City of Winnipeg Assessment and Taxation Department. 2026 Historical Combined Mill Rates If the assessed value looks wrong, you can challenge it through the Board of Revision by the deadline printed on your assessment notice.
How the City Sets Your Market Value
Every property in Winnipeg is assigned a value meant to reflect what it would sell for on the open market on a provincially set reference date, typically about two years before the assessment cycle begins. For the 2027 General Assessment, the reference date is April 1, 2025.2City of Winnipeg. Realty Assessment Revision Using a date in the past keeps short-term market swings from immediately reshaping tax bills.
Assessors weigh the building’s size, age, condition, and construction quality, along with location and neighborhood characteristics. They also look at actual sale prices of comparable properties in your area during the period around the reference date.3Government of Manitoba. Property Assessment Services – Frequently Asked Questions When several homes on your block sold near that date, those sales carry real weight.
Manitoba generally reassesses on a two-year cycle, and each general assessment stays in effect until the next one.4CanLII. The Municipal Assessment Act, CCSM c M226 Not every owner gets a new notice each year. For 2026, the city mailed notices only where the value, classification, or ownership had changed.5City of Winnipeg. Assessment and Taxation Department – City of Winnipeg No notice means your previous assessed value still applies.
Why Only Part of Your Value Is Taxed
Winnipeg doesn’t tax the full market value. A percentage of the assessed value, called the portioning rate, is used instead, and the rate depends on your property class. The province defines ten classes so different types of property carry different shares of the tax load.6Government of Manitoba. Classification
The classes most Winnipeg owners fall into are:
- Residential 1 at 45%, covering properties with up to four dwelling units, including single-family homes.
- Residential 2 at 45%, covering multi-family properties with five or more units.
- Residential 3 at 45%, covering owner-occupied condominiums and co-operative housing.
- Farm Property at 26%, covering land and buildings used for commercial crop or livestock production.
- Other (Commercial-Industrial) at 65%.
- Institutional at 65%, covering universities, hospitals, and places of worship.
The residential rate has held at 45% since 2007, and the Other rate has held at 65% over the same period.7City of Winnipeg Assessment and Taxation Department. Current and Historical Portion Percentage Rates So a single-family home assessed at $300,000 has a portioned assessment of $135,000. That $135,000 is the figure the mill rates work on.
How Your Tax Bill Is Calculated
The city multiplies your portioned assessment by several mill rates and adds them together. One mill equals $1 of tax for every $1,000 of portioned assessment. Separate mill rates cover municipal services, provincial education, and school division levies.8City of Winnipeg. How are Taxes Calculated – Real Property – Assessment and Taxation
Take that same $300,000 home with a $135,000 portioned assessment. At the 2026 combined municipal mill rate of 13.372:
$135,000 × 13.372 ÷ 1,000 = $1,805.22 in municipal taxes.
School division and provincial education mill rates are then added on top, and any local improvement levies on your specific lot are added at the end. The full breakdown appears on your annual tax statement.
The Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit
If your Winnipeg home is your principal residence, you’re likely eligible for the Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit, which reduces the school tax portion of the bill. For 2026, the credit covers up to $1,600 of your school taxes, calculated as the lesser of your actual school taxes or $1,600.9City of Winnipeg. Tax Credit Programs – Assessment and Taxation – City of Winnipeg If your school taxes come in under that ceiling, the credit erases them.
To get the credit applied directly to your tax statement, file a Self-Declaration form with the Assessment and Taxation Department by March 15. If you already declared for 2025 and nothing has changed, you don’t need to reapply.9City of Winnipeg. Tax Credit Programs – Assessment and Taxation – City of Winnipeg Miss the municipal deadline and you can still claim it on your personal income tax return for the year.
When Renovations Change Your Assessment
Assessed value doesn’t only shift during general reassessment years. Significant improvements can trigger a supplemental assessment at any time. Structural changes that add living space, a finished basement, a new garage, deck, or swimming pool are the kinds of work that usually push the value up. The city often inspects after building, plumbing, or electrical permits close out.
Routine repairs using similar materials generally won’t change your assessment, provided they aren’t part of a wider modernization. Replacing a worn roof with a comparable one shouldn’t move the number. If that roof goes on alongside a full kitchen renovation and an addition, the whole package can be treated as a significant upgrade.
Filing an Appeal With the Board of Revision
If the assessed value doesn’t reflect what your property was worth on the reference date, you can file an Application for Revision with the Winnipeg Board of Revision. The deadline is printed on your assessment notice. For 2026, notices went out on June 26, 2025, and owners typically have about 25 days from the mailing date to apply.5City of Winnipeg. Assessment and Taxation Department – City of Winnipeg Miss the window and you wait for the next cycle.
Filing Fees
The filing fee is non-refundable and scales with assessed value. As of January 1, 2026, it starts at $66 for properties assessed under $600,000, rises in steps (a property assessed at $1,000,000 to $1,099,999 pays $131.50), and tops out at $655 for properties assessed at $5,000,000 or more.10City of Winnipeg. 2026 BOR Filing Fees Breakdown of Incremental Filing Fee Charges Most single-family homeowners will pay the $66 base fee.
Building Your Case
The strongest appeals rest on evidence that the assessed market value exceeds what your property was actually worth on the reference date. Persuasive material includes recent sale prices of comparable properties in your neighborhood that sold for less than your assessed value, a professional appraisal, and documentation of physical problems that reduce worth, such as foundation damage, flooding history, or needed repairs. Photographs of defects carry weight. So does a clear comparison showing similar homes on your street assessed at lower values.
A general sense that your taxes are too high isn’t an argument the Board can act on. Its authority runs to the assessed value, not the tax rate, so your case has to be about what the property is worth.
What Happens at the Hearing
Once your application is accepted and the fee is paid, the city schedules a hearing and sends written notice at least ten days ahead.11City of Winnipeg. Realty Assessment Revision – Section: Hearing You present your evidence to a panel of independent members, and the city’s assessment staff present the data behind the original figure. The proceedings are less formal than a courtroom, but organization matters. A tidy summary of comparable sales, photographs, and any appraisal reports makes a difference.
The panel deliberates and issues a written decision by mail. It can maintain the assessment, reduce it, or increase it based on the evidence. Most owners receive the decision within a few weeks of the hearing, typically by late autumn or early winter after the summer appeal window.
Appealing to the Manitoba Municipal Board
If the Board of Revision decision doesn’t go your way, you can escalate to the Manitoba Municipal Board. You have 21 days from the date you receive the decision to file.12Government of Manitoba. Filing an Appeal The filing fee is $10 for every $100,000 of assessed value as set by the Board of Revision, with a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $500. You’ll need a copy of the Board of Revision decision and a written explanation of your grounds. The Municipal Board is a more formal tribunal, and the bar for overturning the first decision is higher.
Pay Your Taxes on Time Even If You’re Appealing
Your property taxes are still due on time regardless of any pending appeal. For 2026, real and personal property taxes must be paid on or before June 30, 2026.5City of Winnipeg. Assessment and Taxation Department – City of Winnipeg If you recently bought your property, you’re responsible for the 2026 taxes whether or not a notice arrived in your name. An appeal does not pause the payment obligation. If it succeeds, the city adjusts your account afterward.