Ontario Tax Sale Properties
Find Upcoming Tax Sale Properties Across Ontario
Explore municipal tax-sale opportunities offered through public tender or public auction. Compare available properties and understand the process before bidding.
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Looking for Ontario Tax Sale Properties?
Ontario does not publish a single, province-wide list of tax sale properties. Every municipality runs its own sales and advertises them separately, so opportunities appear in many places and on different schedules.
Municipalities are required to advertise a tax sale once in The Ontario Gazette and once a week for four weeks in a local newspaper, or by posting a notice where no suitable newspaper exists. Tracking those notices across hundreds of municipalities takes time.
Tax Sales Hub centralizes advertised opportunities in one place so you can see what is currently available across Ontario and shortlist properties worth researching further. Confirm every detail against the municipality’s own notice before you act on it.
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Ontario Property Tax Sales in 2026
Tax sales run throughout 2026 across Ontario, but they are scheduled municipality by municipality rather than on a provincial calendar.
There Is No Single Ontario Tax-Sale Date
Each municipality sets its own tender deadline or auction date and advertises it independently. A sale can only go ahead once a tax arrears certificate has been registered against the title and the cancellation price has gone unpaid for the statutory period.
What a Tax-Sale Notice Tells You
Advertised notices follow a prescribed form. Between the notice and the municipality’s tax-sale page you can usually establish:
- The municipality or board conducting the sale
- The address or location of the land, and its legal description
- The minimum tender or minimum bid amount
- The deadline for receiving tenders, or the time and place of the auction
- The required deposit
- Submission instructions and the prescribed tender form
- The conditions of sale set by the municipality
Deadlines move, sales are postponed, and properties are withdrawn when arrears are paid. Treat any listing as a research starting point and verify current details with the municipality conducting the sale.
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How Do Tax Sales Work in Ontario?
Ontario tax sales follow a process set out in Part XI of the Municipal Act, 2001 and the Municipal Tax Sales Rules (O. Reg. 181/03). The sequence below describes the standard route from unpaid taxes to a registered tax deed.
1. Property Taxes Fall Into Arrears
Property taxes that are still unpaid on January 1 of the year after they were added to the tax roll become “tax arrears.” A municipality may begin tax-sale proceedings once arrears are still owing on January 1 in the second year following the year the taxes became owing.
2. The Municipality Registers a Tax Arrears Certificate
The treasurer may register a tax arrears certificate against the title to the land. The certificate states that the land will be sold by public sale if the cancellation price is not paid within one year of registration. A certificate covers only one separately assessed parcel.
3. The Owner and Interested Parties Are Notified
Within 60 days of registration the treasurer must send notice to the assessed owner, the owner’s spouse, and the mortgagees, execution creditors and other parties whose interests appear on title. The treasurer then makes a statutory declaration recording who was notified.
4. A One-Year Period to Pay the Cancellation Price
During that year, any person may stop the sale by paying the cancellation price — the arrears and current taxes, plus interest, penalties and the municipality’s reasonable costs. If the amount is still unpaid 280 days after registration, the treasurer must send a final notice warning that the land will be advertised for sale.
5. The Municipality Advertises the Sale
If the cancellation price remains unpaid at the end of the one-year period and no extension agreement is in force, the land is advertised for sale. The treasurer decides whether to sell by public tender or public auction, advertises once in The Ontario Gazette and weekly for four weeks in a local newspaper, and must allow at least seven days after the last advertisement before the deadline or auction.
6. Buyers Submit Tenders or Bid at Auction
In a public tender, sealed tenders on the prescribed form are delivered to the treasurer with a deposit and opened publicly after the deadline. At a public auction, bidding opens at the minimum bid and the highest bidder must pay on the spot.
7. The Successful Purchaser Pays and Title Is Transferred
Once the required amounts are paid, the treasurer declares a successful purchaser and registers a tax deed. If no one buys the property, the municipality may register a notice of vesting and take title itself.
This is a general summary of the standard process. Expedited rules apply to certain forfeited corporate land, and individual municipalities set their own conditions of sale. Always read the notice and conditions for the specific property.
What Does “Minimum Tender” Mean in Ontario?
The minimum tender amount is the lowest offer a municipality can accept — not an estimate of what the property is worth.
Under the Municipal Act, 2001, the minimum tender amount (or minimum bid at auction) is the cancellation price: the tax arrears and current taxes owing on the property, together with interest, penalties and the municipality’s reasonable costs of running the tax-sale process, such as legal fees and disbursements, survey costs, and an allowance for costs incurred after advertising. The advertised figure is the cancellation price as of the first day of advertising.
Because that figure is built from unpaid taxes and costs, it has no relationship to market value. A valuable property can carry a small minimum tender, and a property with a modest minimum tender can still be a poor purchase.
How the Two Numbers Can Differ
These figures are invented to show the relationship between the two numbers. They are not a real property, a predicted sale price, or an indication of what any Ontario tax sale property costs.
The Minimum Tender Is a Floor, Not a Price
Tax sales are competitive. Other bidders see the same advertised minimum, and the successful tender is frequently far above it. On top of your tender you may owe land transfer tax and the taxes that accumulate between the first day of advertising and the day a purchaser is declared.
A low minimum tender also says nothing about the condition of the property, whether anyone is living in it, whether it has legal access, or what interests survive the sale. Those risks are yours to investigate.
How Does a Public Tender Work in Ontario?
Public tender is one of Ontario’s two tax-sale methods. The treasurer decides which method to use for each property. Instead of bidding in a room, you submit a sealed written offer that is opened in public after the deadline.
1. Find the Listing and Read the Notice
Identify the advertised property and read the municipality’s notice and conditions of sale in full. Note the minimum tender amount, the deadline for receiving tenders, and where tenders must be delivered.
2. Investigate the Title and the Property
Search title and executions, check the legal description and PIN, and review zoning, access and municipal records. You are buying with very limited information and usually without any right to enter the property, so this is the stage where risk is managed.
3. Complete the Prescribed Tender Form
Tenders must be on the prescribed form — Form 7, “Tender to Purchase” — and must be typewritten or legibly handwritten in ink. Each tender may relate to only one parcel of land, and it cannot add terms or conditions of your own.
4. Include the Correct Deposit
A tender must be accompanied by a deposit of at least 20 per cent of your tender amount — not 20 per cent of the minimum tender. The deposit must be a money order, bank draft, or a cheque certified by a bank, trust corporation or credit union.
5. Submit Before the Deadline
Deliver the tender in a sealed envelope that identifies it as a tax sale and describes the land, addressed to the municipal treasurer. The treasurer records the time and date of receipt and keeps the envelope sealed. A tender can be withdrawn in writing before 3 p.m. on the last day for receiving tenders.
6. Tenders Are Opened and the Balance Falls Due
Envelopes are opened in public shortly after 3 p.m. on the closing date. Tenders below the minimum, non-compliant or withdrawn are rejected, and all but the two highest of the remaining tenders are set aside. Every rejected or set-aside tender is returned to the tenderer with its deposit and a statement of the reason for rejection. The higher tenderer is notified by mail and has 14 days from the mailing of that notice to pay the balance, applicable taxes such as land transfer tax, and the accumulated taxes.
Small Mistakes Can Be Fatal
The treasurer must reject a tender that is below the minimum amount, arrives late, uses the wrong form, carries an insufficient deposit, or attaches conditions. There is no opportunity to correct it afterwards.
If the successful tenderer fails to pay the balance within the 14 days, the deposit is forfeited to the municipality and the property is offered to the second-highest tenderer on the same terms.
Public auctions follow different rules. There is no 14-day period at an auction: the highest bidder must pay the bid, applicable taxes and accumulated taxes immediately, or bidding is reopened.
Find Tax Sale Properties Across Ontario
Comparing opportunities is easier when the advertised details sit side by side instead of across dozens of municipal websites and newspaper notices.
Depending on what the municipality has published, a listing may show:
- Municipality conducting the sale
- Property location
- Legal description
- Tender deadline or auction date
- Minimum tender amount
- Assessed value, where available
- Sale documents and conditions of sale
Use a listing service to narrow the field, then do your own research and confirm the sale information directly with the municipality before preparing a tender.
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What Happens After You Win?
Being the highest valid tenderer is not the end of the process. Payment deadlines are short, and what you receive is narrower than a conventional purchase.
Payment Is Due Quickly
In a public tender, the treasurer notifies the higher tenderer by ordinary mail, and the balance must be paid within 14 days of the day that notice is mailed — not 14 days from when you receive it. The amount due is the balance of your tender, any applicable taxes such as land transfer tax, and the taxes that accumulated from the first day of advertising. Miss the deadline and the deposit is forfeited.
At a public auction the highest bidder must pay immediately, in full, before being declared the successful purchaser.
There Is No Post-Sale Redemption Period
Ontario does not give the former owner a period to buy the property back after the sale. The time to pay is before the sale: any person may pay the cancellation price up to the end of the statutory period, and the municipality may enter an extension agreement. Once the tax deed is registered it is final, binding and conclusive subject only to proof of fraud, and no action may be brought to recover the land.
Some Interests Survive the Tax Deed
A registered tax deed gives an estate in fee simple free from most estates and interests, but not all. Easements and restrictive covenants that run with the land survive, as do Crown interests in right of Canada or Ontario and any title acquired by adverse possession by abutting landowners before registration. Where mining rights are taxable under the Mining Act, the sale severs surface rights from mining rights and only the surface rights pass. Search title and obtain professional advice before tendering.
Certain municipal rates assessed or charged before the tax deed is registered may still become payable afterward. Buyers should verify any outstanding or future charges with the municipality.
Properties Are Sold As-Is, With No Vacant Possession
A tax deed does not oblige the municipality to provide vacant possession, and there is no warranty about condition. The property may be occupied, damaged, inaccessible or environmentally contaminated. The treasurer is not required to form any opinion of the value of the land and has no duty to obtain the highest or best price.
Why Explore Ontario Tax Sales?
Tax sales attract buyers because the process is public and the properties are not on the open market. They also carry risks that a conventional purchase would not.
Potential Opportunities
- Properties offered outside the conventional MLS process
- Municipalities across the whole province, urban and rural
- A transparent, statutory public process
- A range of property types, including vacant land
- Advertised minimum amounts published in advance
Considerations and Risks
- Competitive tenders that can far exceed the minimum
- Unknown condition, with no right of inspection
- Possible occupancy and no vacant possession
- Legal access and zoning that may not be what you expect
- Easements, Crown interests and other surviving interests
- A 20 per cent deposit at risk if you cannot complete
- Land transfer tax, accumulated taxes and professional fees
Neither column is a prediction. Whether a particular property is worth tendering on depends entirely on research you do before the deadline.
Ontario Tax Sale Due Diligence Checklist
Work through these items before you commit a deposit. Most of them can only be checked before the tender deadline.
- Confirm the PIN and the legal description against the notice
- Search title and the index of executions for registered interests
- Identify easements, restrictive covenants and Crown interests
- Confirm there is legal access to the land
- Check zoning, permitted uses and any open building or work orders
- Assess the condition of the property from public property only
- Consider whether the property is occupied
- Review environmental history and potential contamination
- Request the municipality’s file and conditions of sale
- Identify liabilities that may survive the sale
- Note the minimum tender amount and the advertised deadline
- Form your own view of market value, independently
- Arrange the certified deposit in the correct form
- Budget for land transfer tax, accumulated taxes and HST if applicable
- Confirm you can pay the full balance within 14 days of the mailed notice
Never Tender on the Minimum Alone
The advertised minimum tender tells you what the municipality is owed. It tells you nothing about what the property is worth, what condition it is in, or what you will inherit with it. Treat the minimum as the entry price to a transaction you still have to investigate.
This checklist is general information, not legal advice. Tax sale purchases are usually worth reviewing with a lawyer experienced in Ontario tax sales before the tender deadline.
Where to Find Ontario Tax Sales
Advertised Ontario tax sales reach the public through three main channels.
Municipal Websites and Statutory Notices
The municipality conducting the sale is the authoritative source. Its notice, tender package and conditions of sale govern, and its staff can confirm whether a sale is still proceeding.
The Ontario Gazette
Every tax sale must be advertised once in The Ontario Gazette, the province’s official publication for notices that must be made public. It is now published in digital format only.
Tax-Sale Listing Services
Listing services collect advertised sales from across Ontario into one searchable place. They are a convenience for research and comparison, not a substitute for the municipality’s own notice.
Whichever channel you start from, verify the deadline, the minimum tender amount and the conditions of sale with the municipality before preparing a tender.
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Ontario Tax Sales: Frequently Asked Questions
When are Ontario tax sales held?
Throughout the year. Ontario has no province-wide tax-sale date — each municipality schedules its own sales and advertises them independently. A sale can only proceed after a tax arrears certificate has been registered against the title, the statutory period has run without the cancellation price being paid, and the municipality has advertised the sale in The Ontario Gazette and a local newspaper.
When is the next Ontario tax sale?
There is no single answer, because it depends on the municipality. New sales are advertised continually across the province. Check The Ontario Gazette, municipal websites and tax-sale listing services for what is currently advertised, and confirm the deadline and conditions with the municipality conducting the sale.
What is the minimum tender?
The minimum tender amount is the cancellation price: the tax arrears and current taxes owing on the property, plus interest, penalties and the municipality’s reasonable costs of the tax-sale process. The advertisement sets out the cancellation price as of the first day of advertising. It is a statutory floor, not an estimate of market value.
Can I buy a property for its unpaid taxes?
The unpaid taxes set the minimum, but they rarely set the price. Tenders below the minimum must be rejected, and among valid tenders the highest wins — so you are competing with everyone else who saw the same advertisement. You also pay land transfer tax where applicable and the taxes accumulated during the sale process, and you take the property subject to whatever survives the tax deed.
What deposit is required?
A tender must be accompanied by a deposit of at least 20 per cent of your tender amount — not 20 per cent of the minimum tender. It must be paid by money order, bank draft, or a cheque certified by a bank, trust corporation or credit union. A tender with an insufficient deposit is rejected.
How do I submit a tender?
Use the prescribed Form 7, “Tender to Purchase,” typewritten or legibly handwritten in ink. Enclose it with the deposit in a sealed envelope that states it is a tax sale and describes the land well enough for the treasurer to identify it, and address it to the municipal treasurer. Each tender may cover only one parcel, and it must not add any terms or conditions. The treasurer records the time it is received and keeps it sealed until opening.
Does the highest tender win?
Among valid tenders, yes. After the deadline the treasurer rejects every tender that is below the minimum, does not comply with the rules, adds conditions, or has been withdrawn, then sets aside all but the two highest. The higher tenderer is offered the property first. If two tenders are identical, the one received earlier is treated as the higher.
How long do I have to pay?
In a public tender, the successful tenderer has 14 days from the day the treasurer mails the notice to pay the balance of the tender, any applicable taxes such as land transfer tax, and the accumulated taxes. The clock runs from mailing, not from receipt. At a public auction there is no such period — the highest bidder must pay immediately. Failing to pay forfeits the deposit.
Can the owner stop the sale?
Yes, before the sale. Any person may cancel the proceedings by paying the cancellation price before the statutory period expires, and the municipality may also enter into an extension agreement with an owner, a spouse, a mortgagee, a tenant in occupation, or another person with an interest in the land. An extension agreement cannot reduce the cancellation price or prevent anyone from paying it.
Is there a post-sale redemption period?
No. Ontario does not provide a redemption period after the sale. Once the tax deed is registered it is final, binding and conclusive, subject only to proof of fraud, and no action may be brought to recover the land. The opportunity to pay the arrears exists only before the sale.
Can properties be withdrawn?
Yes. A property comes off the list if the cancellation price is paid or an extension agreement is fulfilled. The treasurer must also halt proceedings on becoming aware of certain failures or errors before the deed is registered, and may cancel where continuing is not in the municipality’s financial interest or is impractical. A sale can be postponed and readvertised; if a postponed sale is not held within 90 days of the originally advertised date, a cancellation certificate is registered. Tenders already received are opened and returned with their deposits.
Are properties sold as-is?
Effectively, yes. The municipality gives no warranty about the condition of the property, and a tax deed does not oblige it to provide vacant possession. The treasurer is not required to inquire into the value of the land and has no duty to obtain the highest or best price. Everything about condition, occupancy and suitability is the purchaser’s risk.
Can I inspect the property?
Usually not. Municipalities generally do not arrange access, and the property may be occupied. In practice your research is limited to title and execution searches, municipal and planning records, and what can be observed from public property. Do not assume a right to enter the land before the sale.
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Ready to Explore Ontario Tax Sale Properties?
Browse current and upcoming opportunities, compare the details, and identify properties worth investigating further.
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Listings are a research starting point. Confirm the tender deadline, the minimum tender amount and the conditions of sale with the municipality conducting the sale before you commit a deposit.
Affiliate Disclosure: CanadianTaxSales.ca may receive compensation if you purchase products or services through Tax Sales Hub after following our link. This does not increase the price you pay.
Official Ontario Tax Sale Resources
For authoritative information about Ontario’s tax-sale process:
Legislation and regulations are amended from time to time, so these sources should be reverified rather than treated as permanently unchanged. The notice and conditions of sale published by the municipality conducting a tax sale govern that sale, and prospective purchasers should confirm deadlines, minimum tender amounts and sale requirements directly with the municipality.
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CanadianTaxSales.ca may receive compensation when visitors purchase products or services through certain links on this website. This does not increase the price you pay.
Independent Website Disclaimer
CanadianTaxSales.ca is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with or operated by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, any municipality, or Tax Sales Hub.
Information is provided for general educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, financial, real-estate or investment advice. Tax-sale information can change, and prospective purchasers should independently verify property information and sale requirements with the municipality conducting the sale.