In Ontario, assessed value is the figure the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, known as MPAC, uses to calculate your property tax, while market value is what your home would actually sell for today. The two numbers are almost never the same, and across most of Toronto the assessed value sits well below the market value.
The reason comes down to timing. MPAC sets a property's assessed value based on what it estimates the home would have sold for on a fixed valuation date. For the 2026 tax year, that date is still January 1, 2016. A province-wide reassessment has been postponed repeatedly since the pandemic, so the values printed on current notices reflect a 2016 market rather than today's. Toronto prices have climbed a long way since then, which is why a recent assessment notice can read like a number from another era.
This figure is called the Current Value Assessment, or CVA. MPAC still updates an individual property when something physical changes, such as a renovation, an addition, new construction, or a demolition. What it does not do during a postponed cycle is reset every home to a present-day value. Your municipality then multiplies the assessed value by its local tax rate to calculate your annual property taxes, so the assessment still drives your tax bill even when it has drifted far from what buyers would pay.
Market value behaves differently. It reflects what a buyer is willing to pay in current conditions, and it shifts with demand, interest rates, and the specific block your home sits on. When you are preparing to sell, an agent estimates it through a comparative market analysis built on recent comparable sales. A lender confirms it a different way, ordering an appraisal so the mortgage matches what the property is worth right now. Neither figure is anchored to the 2016 base year that sets your assessment.
If you think your assessed value is wrong, you can file a Request for Reconsideration with MPAC through its AboutMyProperty portal. The deadline falls on March 31 of the tax year. If you still disagree once MPAC has reviewed it, the next step is an appeal to the Assessment Review Board.
Related reading: How Are Property Taxes Calculated in Toronto?, What Is a Comparative Market Analysis in Toronto?, and What Is a Home Appraisal and Why Lenders Require One.
