Manitoba has stopped mailing property tax rebate cheques to most homeowners. Beginning with the 2025 tax year, the province replaced the old School Tax Rebate and Education Property Tax Credit with a single program, the Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit (HATC), which is applied directly to your municipal property tax bill instead of arriving as a separate cheque. For 2026, the HATC covers up to $1,600 of the school tax portion of your bill.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit Farm properties are the one group that still receives a school tax rebate in the traditional sense, and it too now shows up as a line on the tax statement rather than in the mail.
What Replaced the Rebate Cheque
For years, Manitoba sent rebate cheques to residential and farm property owners covering 50% of their school taxes, with commercial and industrial properties receiving a smaller 10% rebate. That system is gone for everyone except farmers. The province eliminated the School Tax Rebate for residential, commercial, and industrial properties and replaced it, for homeowners, with the HATC starting in 2025.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit Commercial properties now receive no provincial property tax credits or rebates at all.2Official Website of Carman, MB. MB Education Property Tax Credit/Rebate
If you used to watch for a cheque each spring or summer, look instead at the property tax bill your municipality sends. The credit appears as a line item that reduces what you owe. Nothing extra is coming in the mail.
How the HATC Works for 2026
The 2026 HATC equals the lesser of $1,600 or your gross school taxes on your principal residence.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit That is up from $1,500 in 2025.3City of Winnipeg. Opening Your 2026 Property Tax Bill – Heres What You Need to Know If your school taxes are $2,400, the credit takes $1,600 off and you pay $800 on that portion. If your school taxes come in below $1,600, the credit wipes them out.
The HATC applies only to a principal residence. Rental properties, cottages, secondary homes, and commercial buildings do not qualify.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit A couple can designate only one property between them; you cannot each claim the credit on a separate home.
How to Qualify
To have the credit appear on your tax bill automatically, your home has to be declared as your principal residence with your municipality. If you already did this for the old Education Property Tax Credit or for the 2025 HATC, the declaration carries forward and no new paperwork is needed.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit
If you’ve never declared, or you recently bought a home, contact your municipal office and make the declaration. The province decides which home is your principal residence based on things like where you actually live most of the time, the address on your driver’s licence and tax return, and the address tied to your bank and utility accounts.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit
If the Credit Isn’t on Your Bill
You haven’t lost the money. Eligible homeowners who did not receive the HATC as an advance on their property tax statement can claim it on their personal income tax return for the same year.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit The tradeoff is cash flow: you pay the full property tax bill first and get the credit back at tax time.
Owners of a property with more than one dwelling unit, such as a duplex or triplex, cannot get the HATC on their property tax statement at all. They have to claim it through their income tax return.1Government of Manitoba. Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit Worth knowing if you own and live in a multi-unit building.
Farm Properties Still Get a Rebate
Farm property remains under the old-style rebate structure. For 2024 and following years, farm properties receive a 50% rebate on gross school taxes, applied directly to the property tax statement.4Government of Manitoba. School Tax Rebate for Farm Properties Same rebate, different delivery: it appears on the bill instead of arriving as a separate cheque.
Extra Rebate for Seniors
Homeowners 65 or older by December 31 of the tax year may qualify for up to $235 in additional school tax relief through the Seniors’ School Tax Rebate. It is income-tested and begins to shrink once net family income exceeds $40,000, dropping by 1% of every dollar above that threshold. Households at $63,500 or more do not qualify.5Government of Manitoba. Seniors School Tax Rebate The seniors’ rebate stacks on top of the HATC, so an eligible senior homeowner can receive both in the same year.
Renters
Renters do not get the HATC. They have their own program, the Renters Affordability Tax Credit, worth up to $625 for 2026, with a seniors’ top-up of up to $357 for those who qualify.6Government of Manitoba. Taxation Changes – Budget 2025 Bulletin Renters claim it on their personal income tax return. If you live in a mobile home, you cannot claim both the education property tax credit and the renters tax credit.7Province of Manitoba. Education Property Tax Credit
Pay Your Bill by the Deadline Either Way
In Winnipeg, 2026 property tax bills went out to roughly 240,500 households, with a payment deadline of June 30, 2026.8City of Winnipeg. 2026 Property Tax Bills in the Mail Rural municipalities often have later deadlines, sometimes in September or October. Check your bill or call your municipal office for the exact date in your area.
Your property tax payment is due by the date on the bill whether or not the HATC has been applied. If you plan to claim the credit through your income tax return instead, you still owe the full amount to your municipality by the deadline. Late payment penalties are set by the municipality, not the province, and the province does not offer penalty relief for homeowners who delay paying while sorting out a credit issue.