Victoria Welland
Ottawa City Council has passed a motion to study the feasibility of a vacant unit tax, a move which could help address the city’s growing housing crisis.
The goal of the tax would be to reduce the number of homes which lie empty and neglected for extended periods of time, according to Catherine McKenney, the city councillor for Somerset Ward.
McKenney, along with Mayor Jim Watson, introduced a resolution in December directing the city to study the viability of a vacant homes tax and report its findings by the end of June.
The report will look at Ottawa’s current tax legislation as well as similar taxes implemented in Vancouver and Toronto, McKenney said. In December of 2020, Vancouver raised their tax on empty residences from 1.25 to 3.0 percent of the home’s value, and Toronto recently passed a resolution to implement a vacant homes tax by 2022.
The revenue from the tax would go towards funding for affordable housing initiatives, they said, though this is a secondary benefit.
“This is not a tax that is meant to be punitive. It is a tax that aims to increase housing supply which we desperately need here in the city.”
Cheryl Parrott, the treasurer of the Hintonburg Community Association, has seen first-hand the problems vacant homes have caused for her community. Parrott first noticed the issue nearly a decade ago, when a number of residential properties in Hintonburg were bought by a developer, the tenants evicted, and then left empty or demolished.
“There are eight boarded buildings within one block of the Tom Brown Arena respite centre [and] within two blocks of people sleeping [in] homeless encampments. These are perfectly good buildings and these people were our neighbours that got evicted.”
Not only do these vacant residential properties go unused while people sleep on the streets, but they also use up city resources, she said. “In terms of all [the] city services trying to keep them from being an eyesore [and] from being a danger–between bylaw police, fire–it costs a lot of money.”
During last November’s city budget hearings, Parrott presented this issue to city councillors on the Community and Protective Services committee, urging them to consider a vacant homes tax like those in other Canadian cities. During the meeting, city bylaw staff reported that city records show 217 vacant homes in Ottawa.
Parrott believes the number is even higher than the city’s records indicate. “We know that’s not all of them because we’ve since walked around and determined that there’s some others that are empty, […] but they weren’t on the vacant property list that the city has.”
According to a 2016 report by point2homes.com using data from Statistics Canada, there were 20,000 homes in Ottawa deemed “empty or temporarily occupied.” However, these could include properties that are rented out as Airbnb’s or are occupied by retirees who spend the winters outside of Canada.
Under Vancouver’s current system, each home owner makes a declaration on their property taxes as to the occupancy of their home. If this method was adopted in Ottawa, there could be more clarity on the exact number of vacant homes.
Councillor McKenney wants to make the messaging clear that this tax would not apply to the majority of homeowners. “It really is only for homes that are sitting empty. So, if you’re using your home, if you’re living in it, if you’re renting it out, you are not affected,” said McKenney. “But if you’re allowing a home to sit vacant […] there could be an added tax.”
The Ottawa Real Estate Board’s Government and Community Relations Committee is currently reviewing the issue of a vacant unit tax, according to Debra Wright, the Board’s president. Currently, their main concern is that the tax be practical and effective.
“It’s important to have a clear understanding of what the intended purpose […] and objective of the municipal tax is,” said Wright. “If it’s to add additional rental housing, we would want the city to be sure that such a tax will actually add rental housing.”
The city is currently asking for public feedback on the specifics of the tax via an online survey. It includes questions on how long a property should remain vacant before the tax would apply and possible exemptions, such as when a house is for sale or under construction.
To add your opinion to the conversation, you can fill out the survey at
engage.ottawa.ca/VUT