The Home Owner Grant

The Home Owner Grant is available to individuals who are Canadian citizens or Landed Immigrants and reside permanently in British Columbia. A homeowner is entitled to the grant if he/she occupies an eligible residence as his/her principal residence. The grant is not automatically given, it must be applied for each year.

Home Owner Grant Administration Unit

The Home Owner Grant Administration Unit was created to improve the administration of this property tax relief program. It's role is to:

• provide direction and support to the Tax Collectors;
• maintain a province-wide record of all grants claimed to facilitate an audit verification;
• review decisions of the Tax Collectors;
• ensure that all grants are paid to eligible claimants only; and
• recover public funds for grants wrongly claimed.

Tax Collector/Tax Jurisdiction

A Tax Collector is the person who collects taxes in each municipality, town or city. The Surveyor of Taxes in the Property Taxation Branch is the Tax Collector for all rural areas in the province. The Tax Collector approves or denies grant applications. The applications are included with the annual property tax notices which are mailed to property owners each year. Applications are subject to further audit by the Home Owner Grant Administration Unit.

Property Owner

The property owner's responsibility is to:

• read and understand the grant application;
• assess his/her eligibility before applying for the grant;
• provide supporting documentation if requested.