Ottawa's tax rate is 1.272%, but not on what you pay

I told you 1.1% of price. The City's own estimator says it is not that simple

Last Tuesday I ran a $110,000 household through Ottawa's stress test and used a property tax of 1.1% of the purchase price. That post got the tax line wrong in May, and I said so. This week I checked the 1.1% itself against the City of Ottawa's property tax estimator, and the result is more useful than a corrected number. It changes what you should type into the tax line.

What the City's estimator actually returns

I ran an urban residential property with full transit, full fire service and curbside garbage through the City's online estimator, using a $500,000 assessment and the 2026 year. The line items, as a percent of assessment: city wide 0.593374, police 0.180986, conservation authority 0.007627, transit 0.242185, fire 0.094972, and education 0.153000. They add to 1.272144%. On $500,000 that is $6,360.72. Then the City adds a fixed solid waste fee of $267 for curbside, which takes the estimate to $6,627.72.

For 2025 the same inputs gave 1.227103% and $6,378.51, with a $243 waste fee. So the same assessment costs 3.9% more this year ($6,627.72 divided by $6,378.51). The rate rose 3.7% and the waste fee 9.9%.

The City says the estimator gives estimates only. It does not include local charges or drains, and your own bill can differ.

The piece I got wrong in a different way

That 1.272% is applied to your assessed value, not to what you pay. The City's estimator page says 2025 assessments and rates are based on January 1, 2016 values unless the property physically changed. I did not find anything saying 2026 works differently, so check your MPAC notice before assuming it does. A house that sells for $700,000 today can carry an assessment far below $700,000.

So my 1.1% of price is only right for one specific ratio of assessment to price. Solve for it. At $561,400, 1.1% is $6,175 a year. Take off the $267 waste fee and divide by 1.272144%: $5,908 divided by 0.01272144 is about $464,400. That is 83% of the price. If the assessment on the house you are buying is 83% of the price, my number was right. Lower, and I overstated your tax. Higher, and I understated it.

What it does to the $110,000 household

Same inputs as last week: $3,455 a month for principal, interest and tax, 25 year amortization, 6.25% qualifying rate, 20% down, $0.0052379 of monthly principal and interest per dollar of price. Now the tax is 1.272144% of the assessment plus $267 a year, with the assessment set at a share of the price.

At 70% of price: tax about $5,379 a year, affordable price about $574,000.

At 83%: tax $6,173, price $561,400. That is last week's answer.

At 90%: tax $6,614, price about $554,400.

At 100%: tax $7,201, price about $545,000.

Same household, same income, same stress test, and a spread of $29,000 in what they can buy, driven by one number that is not on the listing sheet. An assessment equal to the price (possible on a newer build) costs this buyer $16,400 of purchase power against my 1.1% shortcut.

By segment, monthly tax

Using the September OREB benchmarks from last week, a house assessed at 80% of the benchmark price against one assessed at 100%:

Single family at $705,100: about $620 a month at 80%, $770 at 100%. My 1.1% line said $646.

Townhouse at $546,500: $486 against $602. The 1.1% line said $501.

Apartment at $380,800: $345 against $426. The 1.1% line said $349.

Notice that 1.1% lands close to the 80% case in every segment. It was a decent shortcut for an older house. It undercounts a house assessed at its full price by $77 to $124 a month, which at a 39% debt service limit is about $2,400 to $3,800 of income, depending on the segment.

What to do instead

Do not use a percent of price. On any listing you are serious about, get the actual annual tax figure, and ask what year it was calculated for. Then check the MPAC assessment for that address and multiply it by 1.272144%, plus $267, and see if they agree. If you are buying new, ask the builder or your lawyer how the first bill will be assessed, because it may not be assessed like the older house next door.

Then put the real number into the affordability sum. It will move your ceiling more than a 0.2 point change in the qualifying rate does. In the single family case last week, 20 basis points was worth about $2,100 of income. In that same case the tax gap between an 80% and a 100% assessment is $150 a month, or about $4,600 of income at a 39% limit.

Property tax also comes up on closing day as an adjustment between you and the seller, covered in my closing costs breakdown.

What I am watching

The City will publish 2027 rates next year. If the change lands near the 2026 pace, a $500,000 assessment goes from $6,628 to about $6,890. I will rerun this table then.

I sell houses. I do not sell mortgages and I do not give tax advice, so confirm your assessment and what it means for your bill with MPAC, a lawyer, or a lender before you rely on my arithmetic.

If you have a listing in mind and want the real tax number worked into the affordability math before you make an offer, call me at 613-262-6545 or email fil@613realtor.ca. Ten minutes on a specific address beats any rule of thumb I can give you.