1.40%of the assessed value on your MPAC notice, each year
$7,008 a yearon a $500,000 home, or about $584 a month
Higher than 51% of the 414 Ontario municipalities
Each dot is one municipality, placed by its newest filed rate. Further right is higher.
Saugeen Shores 1.40%
Middle 1.40%10 more, up to 6.85%
0.5%1.0%1.5%2.0%2.5%3.0%
Saugeen Shores
Middle 1.40%10 more, to 6.85%
0.5%1.0%1.5%2.0%2.5%3.0%
Lowest fifth
Low
Middle fifth
High
Highest fifth
Saugeen Shores
Saugeen Shores in short
$7,008 a year on a $500,000 home: $3,736 to Saugeen Shores council, $2,507 to Bruce County and $765 to schools.
Up 0.27 points since 2019, or $1,327 a year more on a $500,000 home.
Rent $1,170 a month, home value $572,000 in the 2021 Census, against an Ontario middle of $980 and $400,000.
Saugeen Shores has not filed 2025 with the province yet, so this page uses 2024, the newest year it has filed.
Every municipality is compared at its newest filed rate: 283 of the 414 have filed 2025.
Who sets the rate
Three bodies set Saugeen Shores's rate: Saugeen Shores council at 0.75%, Bruce County at
0.50%, and the Province of Ontario for schools. The county portion is
36% of the bill, set by a council you vote for separately.
$3,736$2,507$765
Portion
Rate
On $500,000
Share
MunicipalSaugeen Shores council
0.75%
$3,736
53%
County or regionBruce County
0.50%
$2,507
36%
EducationProvince of Ontario
0.15%
$765
11%
Total
1.40%
$7,008
100%
Each rate is rounded to two decimals, so the parts can add up to 0.01 off the total.
How the rate has changed, 2019–2024
Up every year since 2019. Since 2019 the total rate here has risen by 0.27 percentage points, from 1.14% to 1.40%. On a $500,000 home that is $1,327 a year more than in 2019.
20191.14%$5,681
20201.17%$5,851
20211.19%$5,968
20221.25%$6,237
20231.32%$6,603
20241.40%$7,008
Total residential rate, with the tax on a $500,000 home underneath.Each part of the rate, year by year
Over the same years the residential assessment base moved from $2,422M to
$2,785M, and the residential levy collected went from $27M
to $39M. A rate rising while the base also grows means the budget grew faster than
property values; a rate falling while the base grows usually means the opposite. Assessment is the figure on the
MPAC notice, still based on 2016 values province-wide.
Year
Municipal
County or region
Education
Total
Change
On $500,000
2019
0.59%
0.39%
0.16%
1.14%
—
$5,681
2020
0.62%
0.40%
0.15%
1.17%
+0.03 pts
$5,851
2021
0.63%
0.41%
0.15%
1.19%
+0.02 pts
$5,968
2022
0.66%
0.44%
0.15%
1.25%
+0.05 pts
$6,237
2023
0.69%
0.47%
0.15%
1.32%
+0.07 pts
$6,603
2024
0.75%
0.50%
0.15%
1.40%
+0.08 pts
$7,008
Why are Saugeen Shores property taxes so high?
They are not, measured against the rest of the province. Saugeen Shores's total rate of 1.40% sits close to the Ontario middle of 1.40%: higher than 51% of 414 municipalities. A bill can still feel high when the assessment is high, because the rate is only half of the calculation.
Home values
Homes here are assessed at $308,845 per household, 13% more than the middle ($274,250).
Spending
It spends $4,680 per household, 9% more than the middle ($4,313). It spends more on police (+$392), parks and recreation (+$281) and planning and development (+$109), and less on running the municipality (−$411) and fire (−$116).
← Less than the middleMore than the middle →
Police+$392
Parks and recreation+$281
Planning and development+$109
Running the municipality−$411
Fire−$116
More on why
Who gets the money
Of that rate, 0.50% goes to Bruce County and 0.15% to schools; 0.75% is set by Saugeen Shores itself.
Across Ontario
Across the 241 towns inside a county or region, the tax rate follows home values much more closely than spending: where homes are worth more, rates tend to be lower (rank correlation −0.70 for home values, 0.45 for spending). A pattern, not proof of cause.
What it costs to live in Saugeen Shores
Cost
Saugeen Shores
Ontario middle
Rent, per monthmedian, 2021
$1,170Higher than 79% of 354
$980
Home valueowners’ estimate, 2021
$572,000Higher than 73% of 412
$400,000
Property tax on a $500,000 assessment2024
$7,008Higher than 51% of 414
$6,992
Households spending 30% or more on housingshare of income, 2021
13.9%Lower than 57% of 400
15.0%
Household incomemedian, before tax, 2020
$103,000Higher than 82% of 405
$84,000
Ontario has no official cost-of-living index for single towns. Statistics Canada’s consumer price index covers only Toronto, Ottawa and Thunder Bay here, and it measures change over time, not the gap between places. These are the costs published for each municipality: what renters paid and owners estimated in the 2021 Census, not today’s asking rents or sale prices.
Places like Saugeen Shores
The 5 places closest to Saugeen Shores on total tax rate, assessment / household, spending per household, population, 5-year growth, people per household, among towns inside a county or region.
Residential is one of 11 classes Saugeen Shores reported this year. The tax ratio is the multiple
applied to the residential rate: a ratio of 1.7 on multi-residential means an apartment building pays 1.7×
what a house pays on the same assessed value.
Class
Tax ratio
Municipal
County or region
Education
Total
Industrial
1.7477
1.31%
0.88%
0.88%
3.06%
Commercial
1.2331
0.92%
0.62%
0.88%
2.42%
Office Building
1.2331
0.92%
0.62%
0.88%
2.42%
Parking Lot
1.2331
0.92%
0.62%
0.88%
2.42%
Shopping Centre
1.2331
0.92%
0.62%
0.88%
2.42%
Pipeline
1.0164
0.76%
0.51%
0.88%
2.15%
Multi-Residential
1
0.75%
0.50%
0.15%
1.40%
New Multi-Residential
1
0.75%
0.50%
0.15%
1.40%
Residential
1
0.75%
0.50%
0.15%
1.40%
Farmland
0.25
0.19%
0.13%
0.04%
0.35%
Managed Forest
0.25
0.19%
0.13%
0.04%
0.35%
Sources and method
Tax rates and spending come from the Financial Information Return that Saugeen Shores files with the Province of Ontario; population, rents and home values from Statistics Canada.
Every source, the method and the limits
Tax rates
Ontario Financial Information Return (FIR), 22 GPL — Municipal and School Board Taxation. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Municipal Act s.294(1). Years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024; retrieved 2026-10-11.
Download the file
Spending, households
Financial Information Return Schedule 40 (consolidated expenses by function) and Schedule 02 (households and population).
Population
Adapted from Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0155-01, Population estimates, July 1, by census subdivision. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Rent, home value, income
Adapted from Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Statistics Canada Open Licence. Rent is the median monthly shelter cost of renter households (rent plus any utilities they pay).
The Ontario middle is the median across the municipalities with a published figure.
Method
Dollar figures are the rate times $500,000 of assessed value. Standing compares Saugeen Shores's 2024 total
residential rate with all 414 Ontario municipalities: 204 of the other 413 charge more. The five colours split them into fifths.
Municipality ID
MunID 41043, MAH 41408
Limits
These are the figures Saugeen Shores filed with the province. An individual bill can include area-specific charges and
local improvement levies that a municipality-wide rate does not capture. Reference, not tax advice.