The City has a new online questionnaire on ottawa.ca/VUT where residents can find out whether their residential property could be subject to the new Vacant Unit Tax on the 2023 final property tax bill. The questionnaire is easy to use and will only take a couple of minutes to complete.
Between January and March 2023, all property owners will be required to complete a mandatory declaration online on ottawa.ca/VUT or through MyServiceOttawa. The declaration will take less than five minutes to complete and will be based on your property occupancy status during the 2022 calendar year. It will be an annual requirement.
This new tax serves as an incentive to ensure secondary or other residential investment properties – which are not the owner’s principal residence – remain occupied either through renting or placing it on the real estate market.
Vacant Unit Tax revenues will help fund affordable housing initiatives, in accordance with the City’s Ten-Year Affordable Housing and Homeless Plan, which commits capital funding for the construction of up to 500 new affordable units annually.
Visit Ottawa.ca/VUT to get more information about the Vacant Unit Tax, including exemptions for vacant properties, deadlines, and frequently asked questions.
