Ontario Senior Property Tax Relief: Grants, Credits and Deferrals

If you are looking for Ontario senior property tax relief, the first thing to know is that no single office handles all of it. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) administers the provincial grant and credit as part of your tax return. Your city, town or region decides on deferrals and other local relief, and each publishes its own rules. This guide explains each layer and shows what seven municipalities say on their own pages. Amounts and income limits change every year, so this page names the programs and sends you to the official source for current figures.

Not advice. This is general information, not tax or financial advice. Confirm eligibility and amounts with the CRA, your municipality or an accountant.

Three kinds of help with property tax in Ontario

Program	Who runs it	How you apply
Ontario Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant	Province, paid by the CRA	Form ON-BEN with your tax return
Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit	Province, paid by the CRA	Form ON-BEN with your tax return
Deferral or relief of tax or tax increases	Your municipality	Application to the municipality

The first two lower what you pay over the year by returning money to you. The third changes when, or how much of, your property tax you must pay. Read each program's conditions, since a municipality may ask about other help you receive.

Ontario Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant

The Ontario Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant (OSHPTG) is a payment for older owners with low to moderate incomes. According to the CRA, you qualify if all of the following are true:

• You were 64 or older on December 31 of the tax year.
• You were an Ontario resident on that date.
• You or your spouse or common-law partner owned and lived in your principal residence on that date.
• Ontario property tax was paid for that year, by you or on your behalf.
• You filed that year's income tax return with the application.

The grant is the lesser of a set maximum and the eligible property tax paid, and it is reduced as your or your family's income rises above a threshold and ends at a higher one. The CRA publishes the maximum and the thresholds for each benefit year, so read the current question-and-answer page rather than relying on a number you saw elsewhere. The CRA counts municipal and school property tax on the principal residence. It does not count secondary residences, cottages or investment properties, and for a jointly owned home only your share counts.

To apply, complete Form ON-BEN and file it with your return. The CRA says payment follows its assessment of your return. Renters are not eligible for this particular grant, and neither are people who did not file a return.

Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit

The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) is open to a wider group. The CRA says you may qualify if you were an Ontario resident on December 31 of the tax year and paid rent, property tax, energy costs on a reserve or long-term care accommodation costs for your principal residence. It has a property tax component and an energy component, and seniors can receive a higher property tax component than non-seniors. The CRA again defines a senior as 64 or older on December 31.

You claim it on the same Form ON-BEN. The credit is paid with the Ontario Trillium Benefit, either monthly or as a lump sum if you request it and the annual entitlement is over the threshold the CRA sets. Only property tax on your principal residence counts, and if you owned more than one residence in the year you can claim for each during the period you lived in it.

Because both programs use one form and one return, file every year even when your income is low. Filing is how the CRA learns you qualify.

Municipal property tax deferral and relief programs

The province's guide for municipal councillors states that single-tier and upper-tier municipalities must pass a by-law providing for deferrals or other relief from reassessment-related increases on residential properties owned by low-income seniors or low-income disabled persons. In practice that means every part of Ontario has some version of a program, but the details differ. Municipalities choose the age, the income test, whether a benefit like the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is required, what is deferred and how repayment works.

A deferral does not cancel tax. It postpones it, and the unpaid amount usually comes due when you sell or the title changes. That makes deferral relevant to downsizing: if you are on a program and sell, plan for the repayment in your closing figures. The estimating net proceeds guide shows where to place it.

Property tax relief for seniors in seven Ontario municipalities

These summaries come from each municipality's own page, read in October 2026. Deadlines, thresholds and dollar amounts change, so they are left off. Follow the link for the current version.

Toronto

The City of Toronto describes a Property Tax Increase Cancellation Program and a Property Tax Increase Deferral Program for seniors and others who meet its age, income and assessment tests. It also lists water and solid waste rebates on the same income and age criteria. Applicants reapply annually with supporting documents, such as their CRA Notice of Assessment, and property taxes and utilities must be current. Read the City's property tax and utility relief program page.

Mississauga

Mississauga offers a property tax rebate for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. Applicants or their spouses must be 65 or older or have a disability, own and live in the home for at least a year, and receive an income-tested benefit such as the GIS or the Ontario Disability Support Program. People who qualify also receive a stormwater charge subsidy. See the City's tax rebate page.

Barrie

Barrie's property tax deferral program is open to owners 65 and older and to people receiving ODSP. The City describes it as freezing annual taxes at the previous year's level, with no interest on the deferral, and says the total must be repaid in full when the property is sold. Owners apply again each year through the City's online portal. See the City's property tax deferral page.

Kitchener

Kitchener lets seniors who receive the GIS, and people who receive ODSP, apply for a property tax deferral. Applications go to Financial Services at City Hall by mail or drop-off, and the city's revenue customer service team supplies the forms. See Kitchener's tax adjustments, rebates and deferrals page.

Waterloo

The City of Waterloo says seniors who receive the GIS and people on ODSP may qualify for a property tax deferral, with an application form that can be sent by email, fax, mail or in person. It also points to the provincial senior homeowners' grant. See the City's tax rates and relief programs page.

Guelph

Guelph allows low-income seniors 65 and older who receive the GIS or GAINS benefits, and low-income people with disabilities, to defer property tax payments when an assessment increase raises the tax by at least a set amount. The City says it cannot reduce your taxes, the deferred taxes create a lien and the amount is due in full on sale or change of ownership. Applicants renew each year. See Guelph's tax rebates, programs and deferrals page.

Windsor

Windsor defers the increase in property tax from one year to the next for single-family homeowners who are 65 or older and receive the GIS or Ontario Works, or who receive ODSP, and live in the home as their principal residence. The City says deferred amounts are interest-free during the deferral and become due when the property is sold or otherwise passes to someone other than the eligible owner or spouse. See Windsor's tax rebates and relief page.

Markham also lists two programs on its tax relief page, an interest-free repayment plan for tax arrears and a deferral of future increases. If your municipality is not listed here, search its website for "tax deferral" or call its revenue or tax office.

If you live where there is no municipality

Some Ontario property is not in a municipality and pays provincial land tax. Ontario.ca describes a deferral of a portion of provincial land tax and education tax increases for low-income seniors who receive the GIS, and for people who receive ODSP, who have owned and lived in the property for at least a year. A lien is registered if you sell or stop qualifying. The page directs applicants to the Provincial Land Tax office in Thunder Bay and the Ministry of Finance.

How to apply: a practical order

• File your income tax return every year, even when your income is low.
• Complete Form ON-BEN for the OSHPTG and OEPTC and enter the property tax you paid.
• Search your municipality's website for tax deferral or relief and read the full criteria.
• Gather your CRA Notice of Assessment, proof of age and proof of GIS or ODSP where asked.
• Make sure your current-year taxes are up to date if the municipality requires it. Some, like Barrie and Toronto, do.
• Calendar the renewal. Several municipalities require an application each year.

What relief means if you plan to downsize

Moving can change which programs you can use. The grant and credit follow where you live on the relevant date, and municipal programs usually require that you have owned and lived in the home for a minimum period, often a year. If you sell and buy a smaller place, you may need to start the municipal process again, and the new municipality may have different rules. Deferred taxes on the home you sell will need to be repaid at closing.

Property tax is one line in a bigger comparison. See costs and money for the other items, aging in place or moving for the decision itself, and the net proceeds calculator for your own sale. Other help is listed in resources. If you have questions, contact us.