New tax targeting empty homes in Canmore stirs divisions

Global News

01-05-2025

The Town of Canmore will soon begin taxing homeowners who leave their residences empty for more than half the year as part of the Alberta community's bid to reverse course on an affordability crisis that has made it one of the most expensive places to live in Canada.
The new levy, which the town is calling a 'livability tax,' has become a big topic in the small mountain town. Several part-time owners argue it's unfairly punishing faithful property taxpayers while others say the growing number of weekenders have hollowed out Canmore's community feel.
'This is not an attack on second homeowners,' Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert said in an interview.
The Court of King's Bench this week ruled that Canmore is within its rights to move forward with the tax next year, which will divide residences into sub-classes so it can tax mostly vacant homes at higher rates. A group of residents and developers had argued it was outside the town's authority.
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According to the town, the tax will charge the average part-time homeowner more than $6,300 a year, while full-time residents will pay about $2,100 annually in property taxes. To avoid the tax, a home will need to be occupied by owners or renters for 183 days a year, of which 60 days are continuous.
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Krausert speaks of dark windows and quiet streets when he thinks about how the town has changed over the past two decades. The median assessed value for a single-family home in Canmore was more than $1 million in 2024, and about a quarter of Canmore homes are owned by part-time residents, according to the town.
'That has an impact on the look and feel of different neighbourhoods,' Krausert said of the town's volume of part-time homeowners.
The levy will raise about $12 million annually, to be used for local affordable housing projects, he said.
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The bylaw has stirred up hard feelings among Canmore homeowners who split their time in the mountain town and elsewhere. One group, Fair Future Canmore, has argued the tax unfairly targets faithful longtime taxpayers and won't improve the town's affordability problems.
'The lack of leadership shown by Town Council and their willingness to pit residents against each other demonstrates a real need for change,' Stephen Ross, one of the individuals who challenged the bylaw in court, wrote in a statement for the group in response to this week's court ruling.
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Ron Casey, mayor of Canmore for 11 years through the late '90s and 2000s, said his council was close to implementing a similar tax more than a decade ago. While he supports taxing non-primary homeowners, he said the town isn't currently accountable to how the money is spent.
'There's nothing that ties this, so what prevents this from being a yearly tax grab by the municipality?' Casey said. 'That's (homeowners') fear. No one that I talk to has any objection to paying their fair share.'
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In recent weeks, angry property owners have flooded the opinion pages of Bow Valley's local newspaper to voice their frustration.
Krausert said the bylaw has been antagonized by an organized, 'well-funded' group encouraging members to write letters to the local paper. He believes a 'silent majority' of Canmore locals support the town's plan.
'This is not an organic thing. This is a very calculated and strategic thing, and the vast majority of residents of Canmore see it for what it is,' he said of the letters.
British Columbia and Toronto have implemented similar taxes in recent years that tax homeowners for leaving their residences empty.
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Bruce Dalton, a pharmacist from Calgary who spends weekends in Canmore, said he's comfortable paying the tax. And he is not sympathetic to those who say the tax will cause serious financial pain.
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'That feels kind of hollow to me,' said Dalton, 61.
The town had originally planned for the tax to begin this year, but the judge overseeing the court challenge said Canmore will have to wait until 2026 to start collecting the levy.