One tax gone, a few still standing
The federal Underused Housing Tax — a 1% annual tax mainly aimed at non-Canadian owners — was eliminated for the 2025 calendar year onward, so it isn't included here, even though many older online resources still reference it as if it were active. What's left are municipal and provincial taxes: Toronto and Vancouver each charge 3% of assessed value on homes vacant six months or more, and BC layers its own Speculation and Vacancy Tax on top in 59 specified communities, at 1% for Canadian citizens and permanent residents or 3% for foreign owners and satellite families — with a $4,000 credit available to BC residents that can offset or eliminate the tax entirely on lower-value properties.
Why these taxes exist
Vacant home taxes were introduced as a policy response to housing shortages in expensive, high-demand markets — the idea being that a home sitting empty for most of the year represents lost housing supply in a market where supply is already tight. Toronto introduced its Vacant Home Tax in 2022, and Vancouver's Empty Homes Tax predates it, going back to 2017. Both cities require an annual declaration from every homeowner, whether the property was occupied or not — failing to declare at all is often treated as if the property were vacant by default, which is a common and costly mistake for owners who assume no news is good news.
What counts as "vacant" isn't always obvious
The six-month threshold used by both Toronto and Vancouver doesn't require six consecutive months — it's typically a cumulative total across the calendar year. A property used occasionally as a secondary residence, left empty during a renovation, or tied up in an estate after an owner's death may or may not qualify for an exemption depending on the specific circumstances and how well they're documented. Given how much money is at stake — 3% of a $1.5 million property is $45,000 a year — it's worth reading your city's official exemption list carefully rather than assuming your situation obviously qualifies or obviously doesn't.
BC's Speculation and Vacancy Tax works differently again
Unlike Toronto and Vancouver's municipal taxes, BC's Speculation and Vacancy Tax is a provincial tax layered on top, applying in a specific list of 59 designated communities rather than city-wide, and it distinguishes between Canadian citizens/permanent residents and foreign owners or "satellite families" (households where the majority of income isn't reported on a Canadian tax return) with materially different rates. A property in Vancouver proper could theoretically be subject to both the municipal Empty Homes Tax and the provincial Speculation and Vacancy Tax simultaneously if it sits vacant and doesn't qualify for either exemption.
Every one of these has exemptions (renovation, medical care, new ownership, and more) that this calculator doesn't model — check your city or province's official declaration portal before assuming you owe, or don't owe, anything.