What happens if you don’t pay your property taxes

If you get behind on your property taxes, the overdue amount will be subject to penalties until the overdue amount is paid in full. If you have overdue taxes for more than a year, you may receive a notice of tax sale. 

The penalty date shown on your tax notice is the last day you can pay what you owe before penalties. After that date, a penalty of 0.7591% per month (9.5% per year) is applied to the overdue amount.

Unpaid taxes and penalties from previous years will show as arrears due on your tax notice.

Contact Finance and Treasury Board to find out how much you owe.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1-800-669-7070

If you owe property taxes beyond the current year you can contact collections services to setup a payment arrangement.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1-855-806-2472

When property tax is more than a year overdue and no payment arrangements are made, the property can be sold by the province to recover the taxes owing.

A notice of tax sale is delivered to property tax accounts that have overdue taxes for more than one year. For example, if taxes from 2023 remain unpaid as of January 1, 2026, we will send this notice.

If the property taxes owed remain unpaid, next you will receive an official notice stating your property will be sold under the Real Property Tax Act.

This notice will be delivered to you by the Sheriff’s office or a process server.

If the property taxes owed remain unpaid, your property may go to tax sale. Properties to be sold are advertised before the tax sale takes place. These advertisements appear in two consecutive issues of a local newspaper and one issue of the Royal Gazette.

The advertisement will include:

• your name as the assessed owner
• the date, time, and place of the tax sale
• the property account number
• a brief description of the property
• the terms of the sale

You can stop the tax sale by paying all taxes, penalties and costs before the auction date.

If the amount owed is not paid for in full or no payment arrangements are made, the property will be sold at a public auction held by the Sheriff at the advertised date, time, and location.

After your property is sold, you have 30 days to redeem it (buy it back). Anyone can redeem the property on your behalf during this period. 

To redeem it, the selling price must be paid along with:

• 15% of the selling price
• any refundable costs under the Real Property Tax Act

If the property is redeemed within 30 days, ownership reverts to the original assessed owner. The purchaser will receive a refund for the selling price and other refundable costs.

If the property is not redeemed within the 30-day period, the province will prepare a Tax Deed to officially transfer ownership to the buyer.