Halifax, July 17th, 2025 – Small businesses across Atlantic Canada are being taxed unfairly, according to a recent report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Across the Atlantic region commercial property tax rates are typically more than double residential rates, resulting in property tax bills thousands of dollars higher for commercial properties. Over 70% of small businesses owners say municipalities should make it a priority to limit property tax increases and close the gap.
“Small business confidence remains on shaky ground because of Canada-US trade tensions, lower consumer demand, and high costs. Municipalities need to provide improved fairness in how they set property tax rates. If they are serious about supporting small businesses, its time to show it,” said Duncan Robertson, CFIB’s Director of Legislative Affairs for Nova Scotia.
Table 1: Property tax gap by municipality
| |
|
|
Tax bill on a $372,500 property |
Tax Gap
$ |
Multiplier
X |
Residential
$ |
Commercial
$ |
| St. John’s |
2.04 |
3.52 |
3,017 |
10,616 |
| Charlottetown |
2.19 |
2.31 |
6,221 |
14,379 |
| HRM* |
2.12 |
4.34 |
2,364 |
10,245 |
| CBRM |
3.13 |
2.61 |
7,240 |
18,898 |
| Moncton |
2.81 |
3.06 |
5,071 |
15,535 |
| Fredericton |
2.77 |
3.12 |
4,875 |
15,200 |
Author’s calculations = from municipal tax rates. Municipal property tax rates taken from municipal websites. Note: HRM rates are averages of the area and tiered rates. $372,500 is the average of the Canadian Real Estate Association’s National MLS Home Price Index for St. John’s, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in April 2025.
According to the report the worst offenders in each Atlantic province are St. John’s, Charlottetown, CBRM, and Campbellton. Commercial property in St. John’s would be billed $7,599 more than a residential property, if it was valued at the average home sale price in April 2025. That difference could be up to $11,659 in Sydney (CBRM). Many small businesses don’t believe these higher rates give them good value for money.
“This unfairness has a real impact on small businesses and in turn their customers with six in 10 small businesses having to increase prices to keep up with rising occupancy costs. With municipalities increasing costs on small businesses while providing them with little improvement in services, small businesses have one clear ask, better value for their money.,” added Robertson.
CFIB calls on local and provincial governments to ease the burden on businesses by committing to the following:
- Reducing commercial property tax rates for small businesses
- Closing the property tax gap between commercial and residential properties
- Engage in sustainable spending practices that keep spending and tax levies in line with growth in population and inflation.
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Duncan Robertson, CFIB
Director, Legislative Affairs, Nova Scotia
(902) 580-4538
Duncan.Robertson@cfib.ca
Methodology
Monthly Business Barometer: June 2025 findings are based on 412 responses from a stratified random sample of CFIB members to a controlled-access web survey. Data reflect responses received from June 3 to 9 2025. Findings are statistically accurate to +/- 4.8 per cent 19 times in 20. Every new month, the entire series of indicators is recalculated for the previous month to include all survey responses received in that previous month.
Atlantic Municipal Survey: 2023 findings are based on 371 responses from CFIB members in Atlantic Canada. Data reflect responses from 28 June to 20 July 2023. For comparison purposes, the margin of error for a probability sample of the same size is +/-5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region, including over 4,200 in Nova Scotia. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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