The tax bill arrived, and the shock is real. ImmoMulti, a direct buyer of plexes on the North Shore, hears every month from owners surprised by the new 2025-2027 municipal assessment rolls: in about thirty Quebec cities, assessment increases generally range between 40 and 50%, according to La Presse, Radio-Canada and Le Devoir. For an owner of a plex or income property on the North Shore, two questions arise immediately. First, does this increase actually raise your taxes by the same percentage? No — and that is one of the most widespread myths. Reassessment redistributes the tax burden among property owners, and the real impact depends on how your property compares to the municipal average. Then: is it better to contest this new value or sell your income property while market value is still high? This guide separates fact from fiction, details the contest procedure step by step, and helps you make the right decision for your situation on the North Shore.
What explains the 40–50% increase in the new 2025-2027 assessment rolls?
Every three years, each municipality files a new municipal assessment roll: a register that sets the value of every property in its territory for taxation purposes. The rolls filed for the 2025-2027 period reflect the strong real estate appreciation of recent years. The result: in about thirty Quebec cities, assessment increases generally range between 40 and 50%, according to reporting from La Presse, Radio-Canada and Le Devoir.
It needs to be said clearly: this 40 to 50% is a provincial average. The exact magnitude varies from one municipality to another, from one neighbourhood to another and even from one property to another. A plex located in a highly sought-after area of the North Shore may rise more; another, less. To know the precise figure applicable to your income property, the only reliable source is your new tax bill or the assessment roll available from your municipality.
This reassessment comes at a time when plex owners are already absorbing rising insurance premiums, maintenance costs and mortgage rates. The municipal assessment adds to a list of expenses that keeps growing for income property owners.
Source: reporting from La Presse, Radio-Canada and Le Devoir on the 2025-2027 municipal assessment rolls.
Does a 45% assessment increase really mean 45% more in municipal taxes?
This is the most widespread mistake among plex owners: believing that an assessment that jumps by 45% automatically means a tax bill 45% higher. That is not the case.
When the overall value of a city's real estate portfolio increases, the municipality adjusts its tax rate downward to collect roughly the same total amount. A higher assessment multiplied by a lower rate does not therefore necessarily result in an explosion of your tax bill.
Watch out: the tax burden redistribution trap
Reassessment does not simply raise numbers: it redistributes the tax burden among property owners. If the value of your plex rises faster than the average in your city, your relative share increases and your taxes go up in real terms. If it rises slower than the average, your burden may actually decrease. Do not draw any conclusion from the increase percentage alone: it is the gap relative to the municipal average that matters.
This nuance is essential for making a smart decision between contesting and selling. An income property owner who panics at a 48% increase when their city's average was 50% is fighting the wrong battle: their tax share might barely move.
Source: La Presse column — "Pour en finir avec les mythes concernant le rôle foncier" (September 10, 2025).
How to contest your municipal assessment on the North Shore: what steps to follow?
If you believe the new value of your plex exceeds its actual market value, you have the right to contest it. The official process is called a revision request, and it is filed with the municipal body responsible for assessment. Here are the main steps.
| Step | What you do | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Verify the value | Compare your plex's assessment to recent sales of similar properties | Aim for comparables of the same type (duplex, triplex) and same area |
| 2. Gather evidence | Collect comparable sales, actual rental income, defects or special features | The more documented the evidence, the stronger the request |
| 3. File the revision request | Complete the form with the municipal assessment body | Respect the prescribed deadline after the roll is filed |
| 4. Assessor's response | The assessor may propose a new value or maintain the existing one | An agreement at this stage avoids a lengthier appeal |
| 5. Appeal to the TAQ | If there is disagreement, bring the case to the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec | Often: additional fees and a certified appraiser required |
The trickiest point is the deadline. The law sets a period for filing a revision request after the roll is filed, but the exact deadline depends on each municipality. Rather than relying on an approximate date, check directly with your city on the North Shore or with the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation (MAMH). A late filing is generally inadmissible, regardless of the quality of your case.
"A well-prepared revision request relies less on a sense of injustice than on solid comparables: what did similar plexes actually sell for, in the same area, at the roll's reference date?"
— Assessment principle applied by experienced income property owners
Why do only 0.5% to 1% of plex owners contest their assessment?
Despite the scale of the increases, contesting remains a minority action. On average, only 0.5% to 1% of property owners contest their new assessment. The majority of plex and income property owners never take this step — often due to unfamiliarity with the procedure, fear of complexity, or simply because the deadline has passed.
Things are changing, however, with the 2025-2027 rolls. In Quebec City, a 31% increase in contests was recorded — 1,445 requests versus 1,101 in the previous roll. The signal is clear: more and more property owners feel their assessment does not reflect the reality of their property.
- Unfamiliarity with the right to contest — many owners do not know that a revision request exists and that it is accessible.
- Tight and poorly understood deadline — the filing window closes quickly after the roll is filed.
- Lack of comparables — without solid sales data, the process seems doomed to fail.
- The "value = tax" myth — some contest out of reflex, without checking whether their actual burden has really increased.
Source: Radio-Canada — Assessment contest and revision.
Should you contest or sell your North Shore plex: how to make the right call?
This is the real question for an income property owner. Contesting can lower your taxes; selling frees you entirely from the burden. The right choice depends on your situation, the gap between your assessment and market value, and your long-term intentions.
| Criterion | Lean toward contesting | Lean toward selling |
|---|---|---|
| Gap from market value | Assessment is clearly higher than your plex's actual value | Assessment is close to actual market value |
| Holding horizon | You plan to keep the property for several years | You were already considering selling the plex |
| Current profitability | The property remains profitable despite the taxes | Taxes and expenses are already squeezing your margin |
| Available energy | You can build a file of comparables | You want to exit without any administrative process |
Do not forget the often-overlooked angle: a high assessment also penalizes a future buyer. It inflates the base for calculating the welcome tax (land transfer tax) they will pay at purchase, and it increases the annual taxes they will assume. To better understand this acquisition cost, see our page on the welcome tax. This effect can weigh on the price a buyer is willing to offer — which is why it pays to carefully weigh whether to contest today or sell your income property before the charges weigh even more heavily.
How do the new 2025-2027 rolls affect the profitability of North Shore income properties?
The North Shore of Montréal — Terrebonne, Mascouche, Blainville, Boisbriand, Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Eustache, Deux-Montagnes, Mirabel — is one of the areas where real estate values have risen sharply, and this is reflected in the new assessment rolls. For plex and income property owners in the region, the pressure is twofold.
Regulated rents, rising expenses
Your rental income is capped by the calculation method of the Rental Administration Board (RAB), but your taxes are not capped in the same way. When assessments and tax bills rise while in-place rents have lagged behind the market, the profitability of your income property is directly squeezed.
A selling window that remains favourable
The flip side of this assessment increase is that North Shore plexes retain strong market value. For an owner who is hesitating, this is a window: resale value remains high today, while pressure on carrying costs keeps mounting. Waiting for profitability to erode further may reduce the perceived value of the property.
ImmoMulti: direct buyer of income properties on the North Shore
If the rise in your municipal assessment is making you reconsider holding your plex, we can submit a direct offer — no commission, in complete confidence. No public listing, no broker, no obligation. Receive a proposal within 48 hours.
Run the numbers before deciding
Before deciding between contesting and selling, put both scenarios side by side: the tax savings you might achieve by contesting, versus the capital you could recover today by selling. To frame this in the broader context of profitability, our article on unprofitable plexes in Quebec and the one on rising plex insurance costs on the North Shore complete this picture of the expenses weighing on income property owners.
