Francesco Alessi/Dreamstime

By Jesse Gill

CITY HALL

City of Medicine Hat introduces new tax exemption program to help housing inventory

Jun 26, 2025 | 10:51 AM

The City of Medicine Hat will look to help increase the cities housing inventory through a new tax exemption program.

The Residential Tax Exemption Program will officially launch on Wednesday.

Changes to the Municipal Government Act in late 2024 enabled municipalities to have the discretion to offer multiyear property tax exemptions to residential properties to encourage housing construction.

Bylaw 4851 was approved during the June 16 city council meeting defining the parameters, allowing the city to launch a program to focus on the development of multi-unit residential housing.

“The goal is to support smart, strategic growth in our community,” says Selena McLean-Moore, director of economic development with the city.

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“By providing an incentive for developers to build new housing, especially in priority areas, we’re helping to meet the growing demand for housing while also revitalizing neighbourhoods and supporting local jobs.”

To qualify for the exemption the property must be located within city limits, be a newly built multi-unit residential building, with the builder receiving occupancy approval from the city’s planning and development department.

The city said the exemption will be calculated by comparing the assessed value of a property before and after development and will only apply to the municipal portion of the taxes.

There will be no effect on the education portion of taxes also collected via property taxes.

This means the municipality will continue to collect the same amount of tax revenue it was receiving prior to the development, ensuring no loss in current municipal tax revenue, while still offering a tax break to developers for a specified number of years.

The city says the length and amount of the tax break will vary depending on how many units are included in the project, and the building location within the city.