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Businesses across Atlantic Canada are being vastly overcharged in property taxes compared with their residential counterparts, finds a new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The report comes as over seven in 10 small businesses across the region claim property taxes are the biggest municipal issue currently impacting their business. Furthermore, with five in 10 businesses citing surging rental prices as a contributor to the cost of doing business, small businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to absorb increased tax rates.
“By closing the tax gap and reducing property taxes overall, Atlantic Canadian Municipalities can become more business friendly,” stated Alex Oulton, policy analyst for CFIB.
“CFIB urges all municipalities in the Atlantic provinces to re-evaluate their property taxes and address their property tax gap. Further, all provincial governments should look to Newfoundland and Labrador, who has eliminated their portion of property taxes, as an example to strive for.”
Commercial properties across Atlantic Canada often pay double or even triple their residential counterparts. In some cases, as seen in Rothesay, New Brunswick, commercial properties are paying 3.26 times more than their residential counterparts. Another example is St. John’s Newfoundland where commercial properties on a property assessment of $500,000 will pay $10,200 more in property taxes compared to residential property. The largest property tax gap in each of their respective provinces were Campbellton, Charlottetown, Cape Breton Regional Municipality and St. John’s.