Renters Credit or Homeowner Grant

Courtesy of the Government of BC:

Whether they rent or own, people in B.C. may be eligible for help with their housing costs in 2025.

Renters may be eligible for support through the renter’s tax credit. Starting in 2025, income thresholds are increasing for the credit. Renters can now claim as much as $400 a year off their taxes if their adjusted income is $63,000 or less, or a partial credit for an adjusted income as much as $83,000.

Most homeowners can get a grant to reduce the amount of property tax they pay. To start the new year, B.C. is adjusting the property value threshold for the homeowner grant so it continues to cover 92% of homeowners. This is an increase of $25,000 from the previous threshold to reflect moderate and stable market conditions.

People with properties with an assessed value of as much as $2,175,000 can get $570 off their property tax bills if they live in certain regional districts, or $770 for the rest of the province.

Veterans, seniors, and people with a disability could qualify for an additional grant and receive $1,045.

Another support that homeowners can consider if they need more time to pay property taxes is applying to defer their property tax for the year. Families with dependent children, people over 55 and people with disabilities may be eligible. People can continue to defer as long as they qualify.

Quick Facts:

The homeowner grant is adjusted each year, based on BC Assessment’s annual property value reporting.

The grant provides as much as $770 in relief for eligible homeowners, except in the Capital Region District, the Metro Vancouver Regional District and the Fraser Valley Regional District, where owners can be eligible for as much as $570.

Eligibility for the renter’s tax credit is based on adjusted income, which is the total of a person's net income and a spouse or common-law partner’s net income (if applicable) with certain adjustments.

Learn More:

To apply for the homeowner grant, visit:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/annual-property-tax/home-owner-grant/apply

For more information on the renter’s tax credit, visit:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/income-taxes/personal/credits/renters-tax-credit

To apply for the property tax deferment program, visit:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/annual-property-tax/property-tax-deferment-program/apply

To learn more about financial supports for people in B.C., visit the B.C. Benefits Connector: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/benefits

2025 Property Assessments: Cariboo-Chilcotin Region

Starting today and into next week – British Columbia property owners will receive their 2025 Property 

Assessments in the mail from the BC Assessment Authority, an independent provincial crown agency whose sole task is to evaluate the value of property in British Columbia for the purposes of taxation for local governments’ across BC as well as for the Provincial Government  

 

You can now look up your property assessment online on the BC Assessment Authority’s website at 

https://www.bcassessment.ca/  

 

Background from North-Central BC -- https://info.bcassessment.ca/news/Pages/North-Central-BC-2025-

Property-Assessments-Announced.aspx

 

For municipalities in our Cariboo-Chilcotin Region (residential properties/typically assessed values) 

 

100 Mile House – up 4%

Williams Lake – up 10% 

Quesnel – up 3%

Wells – up 10%

Some quick links from BC Assessment:  

 

1) Understanding the Property Assessment Process -- https://info.bcassessment.ca/Services-

products/Understanding-the-assessment-process  

 

2) Property Assessment/Local Property Taxation -- https://info.bcassessment.ca/Services-products/your-

assessment-notice  

 

3) Appealing your Property Assessment (deadline to file an appeal is January 31st, 2025) -- 

https://info.bcassessment.ca/Services-products/appeals  

 

As referenced above, local governments in BC use the Property Assessment information in order to decide local taxes for the year.  

 

Currently – all Cariboo-Chilcotin local governments are in the middle of determining 2025 Budgets. 

Information on their budget process and public input:  

 

1) District of Wells -- https://www.wells.ca/  

 

2) City of Quesnel -- https://www.quesnel.ca/municipal-services/taxes-utilities/property-taxes  

 

3) City of Williams Lake -- https://www.williamslake.ca/255/Developing-2025-Budget

 

4) District of 100 Mile House -- http://100milehouse.com/district-services/property-taxes-assessment  

 

5) Cariboo Regional District -- https://www.cariboord.ca/en/regional-government/budget-and-business-

plans.aspx  

 

District of Wells, City of Quesnel, City of Williams Lake and the District of 100 Mile House mails property tax notices to property owners directly while those in rural, unincorporated communities within the Cariboo Regional District receive their property tax notices from the Provincial Government directly (Provincial Surveyor of Taxes)  

 

For those in rural areas – the Provincial Government has a website for rural property taxation at 

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/annual-property-tax/rural-area  

 

If you wish to apply to defer your property taxes – go to

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-

taxes/annual-property-tax/property-tax-deferment-program

I STRONGLY recommend you have discussions with BC Assessment if you don't agree with your 2025 

Property Assessment Notice as soon as practical as the deadline to file an appeal is January 31st, 2025. 

Their phone number is 1-866-825-8322. You can look up your own property assessment details online (you 

will need the exact property address or PID (Property IDentifier) Number on your Property Assessment 

Notice) at http://www.bcassessment.ca while you can research the trends for your own property in the last 

number of years by registering for a BC Assessment Authority account at 

https://auth.bcassessment.ca/register/  

 

I will, as I do annually, be monitoring property assessments in my own Electoral Area as well as seeing how 

this impacts on the Cariboo Regional District’s 2025 Budget as well as the setting of Rural Property Taxation 

from the Province (Rural Tax, Rural Police Tax and School Tax) -- that is set by BC Cabinet Order usually in 

late April to early May and then seeing what the final result is -- by end of April 2025.  

 

Finally – City of Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart writes to his constituents about the relationship between 

Property Assessment and Annual Property Taxation. Although it is written with the 161 BC Municipalities in 

mind (including the District of Wells, the City of Quesnel, the City of Williams Lake and the District of 100 

Mile House), the principles he outlines are equally applicable to the 27 Regional Districts’ in BC. It is a 4-5 

min read but a worthy one – read at 

https://www.facebook.com/mayorstewart/posts/10158755321580686 

and I publicly thank him for allowing me to share this information with you

City of Williams Lake Wresting Day 2025

For those outside Williams Lake -- today may be a return to work day for you! 

But for those residing in the City of Williams Lake - today is a civic holiday and in fact, the only civic holiday in Canada on January 2nd

See below for the story on how Wrestling Day came to be in Williams Lake as read by former Williams Lake City Councillor Deb DeMare at the Jan 6th, 2004 Williams Lake City Council meeting:

Williams Lake is the only city in Canada, probably the world, that
celebrates Wrestling Day on January 2.

The idea for the unique holiday originated with pioneer merchants
Alistair Mackenzie and Syd Western. Mackenzie was the son of the
first village merchant, Roderick Mackenzie, and he was managing
the Mackenzie Store (old Fields store) at the time. Western was manager
of the T.A. Moore Store (now Ming' s restaurant) across Oliver St.
from Mackenzies.

The story goes that the two men met for coffee one frigid January
2nd in the late 1930s, the exact date has been a matter of discussion
for years. The streets were empty. There hadn't been a customer in
sight all morning. The two men decided they might as well close
their shops and go home. They phoned the other downtown
businesses - there weren't many of them at the time - and everyone
agreed it was a good day for a holiday.

It isn't sure whether Western or Ken Rife came up with the name
Wrestling Day, for the holiday, but the reasoning was that if the day
after Christmas was Boxing Day, why not call the day after New
Years Wrestling Day. A further argument in favour of the name was
that half the town was wrestling with a hangover.

The holiday caught on and the name stuck. For a number of years it
was simply a gentlemen's agreement, merchants closed up shop on
January 2nd. In 1942, Village Commissioners and businessmen
Robert Beauchamp and Mac Johnson brought the issue of the
holiday before the Village Commission, and on December 23, 1942
the Commission proclaimed Wrestling Day an official civic holiday
beginning in 1943. The village didn't get around to passing a bylaw
to make it legal until 1959.

The village held no special ceremonies on Wrestling Day. People
simply stayed home and recuperated from the holidays celebrations.
In 1967, Williams Lake resident Gwen Ringwood, a nationally known
author, had the idea to "do something" special . She suggested a
Wrestling Day Walk.

The first year only a few people braved the cold and miserable day.
Only Mrs. Ringwood, Clive and Irene Stangoe, Cathie Kerley, Olive
and Dyne Kyall tromped down to Scout Island and back. . The
reward for their efforts was a brunch at the Kerley home. The walk
moved to Chimney Lake in 1969 and was a fixture of Wrestling Day
celebrations there until 1986.

In 1977, at Mayor Tom Mason's urging, town council abolished the
holiday on the grounds the town had outgrown such nonsense. Most
government agencies recognized Wrestling Day, but by then the
chain stores had arrived in Williams Lake and they, along with some
unionized lumber mills, didn't appreciate or recognize the extra
holiday. With the chain stores open, Mason argued the holiday was
a hardship on the smaller businesses. Council passed a store
closing by-law in December 1976 cancelling all existing by-laws
regarding store hours, including Wrestling Day.

This did not go well with Williams Lake citizens who benefited from
the extra day off nor with the old timers who hated to see the tradition
die. They kicked up such a fuss town council reconsidered and re-
instated the holiday the following year.

Today, in the tradition of Wrestling Day, nothing much happens in
Williams Lake on January 2nd. There is no special celebration.
Some businesses open, others stay closed. Some workers work,
others enjoy the extra holiday. Although there are regular rumblings
about the inconsistencies and even the need for the holiday, no
recent city council has tampered with the holiday that makes
Williams Lake unique, at least for one day.

Wrestling Day does bring some fame to the city. Most years
someone from the outside media hears about it, or remembers, and
does a news story.

New Year 2025 Messages - BC Premier/Prime Minister of Canada

Courtesy of BC Premier David Eby:

Today, people in British Columbia and around the world will celebrate the year gone by and welcome the year ahead. If your family is like mine and has small children (or very tired adults), it may begin with a celebration closer to bedtime than midnight.

“For many of you, 2024 was a time of challenges and uncertainty. Still, we came together to lift each other up in a variety of ways, including volunteering in our communities, opening our homes to evacuees during the wildfire season and generously giving over the holiday season.

“In 2024, we started to see some results on issues you asked our government to work on. While we expanded affordable child care, helped more people get a family doctor and delivered more homes for the middle class, I know there is a lot more to do.

“The new year is a time to reflect on lessons learned and set goals for the future. I have heard that you want our government to work harder to tackle the issues that you and your family are talking about around the kitchen table. That is our focus for 2025 and beyond. 

“For families struggling with everyday costs driven by global inflation, we are going to deliver a middle-income tax cut in 2025, and every year after. We will also review health authorities to make sure your tax dollars are being spent efficiently on strengthening health care in your community. We will continue to connect people to family doctors through our Health Connect Registry so everyone can get the high-quality care they need, when and where they need it.

“For young people who are being priced out of their communities, we will build homes you can afford by cracking down on speculation, breaking down barriers to home construction and helping you buy your first home.

“For workers and small business owners, we will build a stronger, cleaner economy that benefits everyone. We will continue to work with our partners to fight against unfair trade threats as we diversify our economy. And we will work to reduce permitting times to ensure certainty in the years ahead.

“We will do all this work in partnership with Indigenous people, while working toward true and lasting reconciliation.

“Despite all the challenges we face, you – the hardworking people of B.C. – make me more optimistic about our future than ever. Together, we can build a sustainable, prosperous province where everyone can get ahead and no one gets left behind.

“Tonight, my family and I will share our hopes and dreams for 2025. Baby Gwen isn’t speaking in full sentences yet, but I can already tell she’s excited to start walking next year. In the same way, step by step – and with the support of one another – we will tackle the big challenges we are all facing and build a province we can all be proud of.

“From my family to yours, happy new year!”

Courtesy of Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau - Prime Minister of Canada:

Canadians across the country and around the world will gather with family and friends to ring in the New Year. This is an opportunity to reflect on the past year and to look to the future with renewed hope and optimism.

“In 2024, Canadians did what Canadians do best. We stuck together, supported one another, and got through good times and bad times alongside each other. And the Government of Canada took action to make life better for Canadians and deliver fairness for every generation.

“Through our Housing Accelerator Fund, we’re fast-tracking 750,000 new homes over the next decade, and we’re taking action to keep housing affordable. We’re protecting renters from unfair rent prices and making rent payments count toward their credit score. We’re also identifying public land across the country where new homes can be built.

“This fall, we announced that we are putting more money in your pocket with a two-month GST/HST tax break. This is a tax break for all Canadians, so you can save on essentials like groceries, snacks, and kids’ clothing. With more money in your pocket, you can buy the things you need and save for the things you want.

“As we look to a new year and the work ahead, strengthening the middle class will continue to be our priority. Over the past year, we increased the Canada Child Benefit and began rolling out the Canadian Dental Care Plan, which has already helped more than 1.2 million Canadians visit the dentist. We’re also moving forward with pharmacare, which will make contraceptives as well as diabetes medications, like insulin, completely free.

“As we count down to midnight tonight, I invite Canadians to join me in celebrating all that we have achieved together in 2024 and in looking toward a better and fairer future in the new year.

“Happy New Year, Canada!”

Steve's Meeting/Expense Calendar - December 2024

During the month of December 2024 -- I attended the following meetings or events:

* December 5th -- Monthly Meeting of the McLeese Lake Recreation Commission

* December 6th -- Meetings of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Regional Hospital District/Cariboo Regional District Boards' 

* December 14th -- Annual McLeese Lake Christmas Dinner

In addition, responded to monthly inquiries from residents of Cariboo RD Electoral Area "D" residents' via social media channels, phone/text or e-mail...  

In the month of December 2024 -- the following expenses were submitted:

* December 6th -- $206 for attendance at meetings of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Regional Hospital District/Cariboo Regional District Boards'