Peel Vacant Home Tax Plan Is On Hold: What It Means for Brampton and Mississauga Property Owners (2026)
Peel Region's push for a vacant home tax in Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon is on hold - and the reason has nothing to do with housing policy and everything to do with how the region itself is being restructured. If you own an investment property that sits empty in Brampton or Mississauga, here is what actually changed and why this pause is not necessarily permanent.
What Peel Region Was Proposing
In April, Peel Region council authorized staff to formally request vacant home tax authority from the province, covering Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon under one regional program. The proposal modeled a 1% annual tax on the assessed value of any home left vacant more than 184 days in a calendar year, unless the property qualified for an exemption. Peel's own analysis estimated the tax could generate roughly $17 million a year in revenue, money the region said would go toward addressing the local housing shortage by pushing empty homes back into the rental or ownership market.
Why the Plan Is Paused
The vacant home tax proposal has been shelved for now because Ontario is in the process of splitting up Peel Region into separate upper-tier structures for Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. Under current provincial legislation, only an upper-tier regional government can apply for vacant home tax authority - and with that upper-tier structure being dismantled, none of the three municipalities can currently apply on their own. Regional staff have recommended pausing the application process entirely until the province clarifies how governance will work after the split.
This Is a Pause, Not a Cancellation
Nothing about this pause suggests the idea is dead. The underlying motivation - discouraging investors from leaving homes empty while Brampton and Mississauga face a housing supply crunch - has not gone away, and once the province finalizes the new municipal structure, whichever government inherits the authority to apply could revive the same proposal, a modified version, or something closer to what Toronto already runs. If you own a vacant investment property in the region, this is a window, not a guarantee.
How Toronto Compares Right Now
Toronto is a useful preview of what full implementation looks like. Toronto's vacant home tax is currently active at 3% of the CVA (assessed value) for any home left vacant six months or more in a year, and every Toronto homeowner - occupied or not - must file an annual occupancy declaration or face penalties. On a home assessed at $1 million, that is $30,000 a year sitting on a property generating no income. Brampton and Mississauga owners do not face that bill today, but Toronto shows exactly what the Peel proposal was modeled on.
What This Means If You Own a Vacant Property in Brampton or Mississauga
- No vacant home tax applies in Brampton, Mississauga or Caledon today - the Peel proposal is on hold, not law.
- The pause is tied to the regional governance split, not a policy reversal - watch for it to resurface once Ontario finalizes the new structure.
- If a property has been sitting empty because renting felt like a hassle or selling felt premature, this is the moment to run the real numbers - what a tenant would net you monthly, or what a sale would net you today, versus what a future 1% to 3% annual tax could cost if the policy returns.
- Investors weighing whether to hold, rent or sell a vacant Brampton or Mississauga property should treat this pause as time to plan, not a reason to stop thinking about it.
The Bottom Line
Peel's vacant home tax is not in effect and will not be for a while, but the pressure behind it - a housing supply shortage the province and region both want addressed - is not going anywhere. If you are sitting on an empty property and have been putting off the decision to rent or sell it, this pause gives you room to plan on your terms instead of reacting to a tax bill later. That is exactly the kind of decision worth running past someone who knows both the numbers and the market.
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Frequently asked questions
Is there a vacant home tax in Brampton right now?
No. Peel Region council authorized a proposal for a vacant home tax covering Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon, but the plan is on hold because Ontario is splitting up Peel Region, and current legislation only allows an upper tier regional government to apply for that authority.
How much would the proposed Peel vacant home tax have cost owners?
The proposal called for a 1 percent tax on the assessed value of a home left vacant more than 184 days in a calendar year, with an estimated 17 million dollars a year in revenue for the region.
Is the Toronto vacant home tax still in effect while Peel is on hold?
Yes. Toronto runs its own active vacant home tax: 3 percent of the CVA (assessed value) for homes vacant six months or more each year, and every Toronto homeowner must file an annual occupancy declaration regardless of what happens in Peel.