"Montreal's commercial property taxes on course to be the highest in Canada"

TORONTO, Nov. 10 /CNW/ - The Real Property Association of Canada (REALpac), today released its 8th annual survey of property taxes across the country. The "2010 Property Tax Rate Analysis", released by REALpac and prepared by the Altus Group, shows both the range of commercial and residential property tax assessments coast to coast and the trends amongst urban centres, allowing REALpac to determine in which cities taxes are going up, going down, and how quickly. REALpac computes property taxes on $1000 of assessment, regardless of whether it is residential assessment or commercial assessment. This allows an apples to apples comparison.It also exposes municipalities that are unfairly heaping the property tax burden on the commercial sector, a practice REALpac believes to be short sighted and ultimately tax revenue negative. "REALpac continues to call on all municipalities to ensure that commercial and residential property tax levels are balanced and fair," said Michael Brooks, Chief Executive Officer of REALpac.

For the fifth straight year, Vancouver takes the honour of having the worst commercial to residential property tax ratio in Canada at 4.42 to 1. Since 2007, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal have had the highest commercial to residential tax ratios in Canada. While Vancouver and Toronto have made gains in reducing their ratios over the past 4 years, Montreal has trended in the opposite direction. 2010 data shows that Montreal has seen a 15% increase in their commercial to residential property tax ratio since 2008; Toronto and Vancouver have seen decreases of 8% and 9% respectively over the same time frame. While Montreal still retains a more favourable commercial to residential tax ratio, its trend, compared with that of Toronto and Vancouver, point to the city surpassing its counterparts within the next three years.

Outside of the top three, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Halifax yielded ratio increases of 6.8%, 0.4%, 1.7%, and 1.4% respectively from 2009-2010. Ottawa posted a ratio decrease of 3.4% over the same period.

REALpac Members believe in tax fairness. REALpac has consistently advocated that continued reduction of the excessive property tax burden on commercial and industrial tenants and landlords will make Canadian cities more competitive and promote jobs and investment. High commercial taxes just force jobs and investment elsewhere. Greater encouragement of commercial businesses and investment in the property assessment base will generate more stable and sustainable revenue for all cities. REALpac will engage the City of Montreal and Province of Quebec in conversations about their troubling property tax ratio trend. As Toronto and Vancouver have discovered, it can be a long road back to reasonable commercial to residential property tax ratios, and Montreal is trending in the wrong direction.

The "2010 Property Tax Rate Analysis" may be downloaded at the REALpac website at http://realpac.ca/property-tax.

About the Real Property Association of Canada

REALpac is Canada's premier industry association for investment real property leaders. Our mission is to collectively influence public policy, to educate government and the public, and to ensure stable and beneficial real estate capital and property markets in Canada.

REALpac Members currently own in excess of $150 Billion CAD in real estate assets located in the major centres across Canada. Members include real estate investment trusts, publicly traded and large private companies, banks, brokerages, crown corporations, investment dealers, life companies, lenders, and pension funds. For more information, please visit us at www.realpac.ca.

About Altus Group

In the spring of 2005, Altus Group, Helyar & Associates, Altus Realty Tax and Derbyshire Viceroy Consultants merged to become Canada's largest independent real estate consulting firm. The new Altus Group brings together a commonly managed network of costing, valuation and property tax consultants with a local presence in every major centre across Canada. The property tax experts of Altus Group provide a complete range of realty tax management and planning, assessment appeal and tax recovery services to commercial, industrial and residential stakeholders nationwide. Visit Altus Group at www.thealtusgroup.com.

For further information:

Michael Brooks, Chief Executive Officer, REALpac, [phone] x.225.