NDP school tax policy hitting Manitoba homeowners hard

The NDP replaced tax rebates with a flat credit and restored school boards’ authority to levy taxes, leading to steep increases in school property taxes

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Homeowners in Manitoba are facing higher school property taxes due to a flawed education funding model, worsened by the NDP government’s reversal of previous reforms intended to address the issue.

Unlike health care, which is fully funded by the province, public education in Manitoba is financed through a complicated mix of provincial grants and local property taxes set by school boards. This hybrid approach means that school taxes vary widely depending on where you live, often with little connection to the quality of education being delivered.

School boards in areas with higher property assessments can raise more money with less effort than those in lower-income areas, creating an unequal system where educational resources depend more on geography than need.

To make matters worse, municipalities are tasked with collecting these school taxes on behalf of the boards, despite having no control over the rates. This leads to confusion and frustration, as local officials frequently field complaints from residents upset by rising tax bills they didn’t set.

Given that the province already oversees teacher certification, curriculum and will soon harmonize teacher salary schedules, there is little justification for continuing to rely on local property taxes to fund public education. Full provincial funding would ensure a more equitable and transparent system.

The previous Progressive Conservative government had taken significant steps toward that goal. It ordered school boards to freeze their property tax rates, rewarded those that complied and introduced a 50 per cent education property tax rebate for homeowners. It also planned to remove education taxes from property tax bills entirely.

But that progress was undone when the NDP took office in 2023. The new government gave school boards full authority to raise property taxes again and replaced the 50 per cent rebate—which was based on actual taxes paid—with a flat $1,500 credit, regardless of property value.

While the NDP claimed most homeowners would benefit from the new system, that narrative quickly collapsed as school property tax rates began to rise. The $1,500 credit applies only to primary residences, meaning cottage owners now face significant tax hikes without any offset. In Victoria Beach, for example, school taxes recently rose by 26 per cent.

Winnipeg residents are also feeling the impact. Winnipeg School Division increased its mill rate—the tax rate applied per $1,000 of assessed property value—by five per cent, while Louis Riel School Division raised its rate by 6.4 per cent. Pembina Trails and Seven Oaks saw smaller increases—3.8 and 4.5 per cent, respectively.

Although the NDP says it will increase the provincial property tax credit to $1,600 next year, it has made no commitment to further increases in future years. Given inflation and rising local tax rates, the burden on homeowners is only expected to grow.

Rather than moving away from an outdated and inequitable system, the province is now doubling down on it. The government may say it values education, but its actions tell a different story. No government serious about public education would fund it this way.

Manitoba students—and their taxpaying parents—deserve better.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.