West Nipissing, Ont. (Alfonzo Buscemi/Wikimedia Commons)

Most of us recognize taxes are a necessary evil, but we also don’t want to pay more than necessary.

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Your province plays a big role in determining how much of your paycheck stays in the bank account. Choose Quebec and expect to pay 15 per cent in sales taxes on every purchase; choose Alberta and the rate drops to five per cent.

Thanks to property taxes, the city you live in matters too. Homeowners in Kirkland, Que. pay the steepest amount in property taxes as a percent of their average incomes, at 4.1 per cent, while residents of Fort McMurray pay the lowest rates at just 0.08 per cent.

Which city has the lowest taxes? That question is more complicated than it appears. Different people in the same city pay different tax rates and amounts, depending on how much they make and how much their homes are worth.

PHOTOS:

To rate the cities with the lowest taxes, we considered both taxes as a percent of income and the average dollar amount paid in taxes. Sometimes, the two are quite different. In B.C., high property values mean many homeowners are forking over large amounts in property taxes despite low tax rates, while the opposite is true in Windsor, Ont. and some municipalities in Atlantic Canada.

If you’re determined to keep your hard-earned money, we suggest a move to West Nipissing, Ont., on Lake Nipissing west of North Bay. You’ll pay about 1.9 per cent of your income in property taxes, which should work out to an annual average bill of $1,495, thanks to an average housing price of just $216,000. And you’ll benefit from Ontario’s relatively low sales and income tax rates.

The taxes category is worth 7 per cent of the main Best Places to Live ranking. We consider the provincial sales tax rate, the municipal property tax rate, the average dollar amount paid in property tax and the dollar amount of provincial income tax someone making the Canadian average individual income would pay. For more information, please see the methodology page.

The Top 100

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Rank	City	Province	Property tax rate as % of average income	Average annual property tax bill	Provincial sales tax rate
1	West Nipissing	ON	1.88%	$1,494.56	13%
2	Elliot Lake	ON	2.24%	$1,390.04	13%
3	Hawkesbury	ON	2.16%	$1,515.85	13%
4	Perth East	ON	1.67%	$1,934.87	13%
5	Victoria	BC	1.14%	$929.75	12%
6	Quesnel	BC	1.37%	$1,239.21	12%
7	North Bay	ON	2.11%	$1,947.97	13%
8	Temiskaming Shores	ON	2.09%	$1,964.73	13%
9	Esquimalt	BC	1.42%	$1,258.02	12%
10	Dawson Creek	BC	1.25%	$1,407.13	12%
11	Cornwall	ON	2.43%	$1,811.19	13%
12	Nelson	BC	1.53%	$1,302.52	12%
13	Williams Lake	BC	1.53%	$1,366.02	12%
14	Fort St. John	BC	1.09%	$1,510.48	12%
15	Owen Sound	ON	2.36%	$1,922.36	13%
16	North Vancouver (CY)	BC	1.47%	$1,439.22	12%
17	Wellington North	ON	2.14%	$2,065.07	13%
18	New Westminster	BC	1.55%	$1,398.32	12%
19	Timmins	ON	2.14%	$2,130.65	13%
20	Greater Sudbury	ON	2.06%	$2,226.77	13%
21	Prince George	BC	1.51%	$1,543.91	12%
22	Prince Rupert	BC	1.47%	$1,609.12	12%
23	Leamington	ON	2.40%	$2,007.37	13%
24	Brockville	ON	2.37%	$2,037.40	13%
25	Port Alberni	BC	1.90%	$1,417.31	12%
26	Vancouver	BC	1.51%	$1,649.21	12%
27	Trent Hills	ON	2.45%	$2,017.53	13%
28	Toronto	ON	2.03%	$2,383.53	13%
29	Orillia	ON	2.42%	$2,077.56	13%
30	North Glengarry	ON	2.40%	$2,115.27	13%
31	South Dundas	ON	2.32%	$2,167.69	13%
32	Penticton	BC	1.75%	$1,552.97	12%
33	Norwich	ON	2.17%	$2,345.90	13%
34	Belleville	ON	2.38%	$2,181.05	13%
35	West Grey	ON	2.24%	$2,306.26	13%
36	Langley	BC	1.92%	$1,606.41	12%
37	North Perth	ON	2.20%	$2,364.14	13%
38	Pembroke	ON	2.53%	$2,104.34	13%
39	Greater Vancouver	BC	1.66%	$1,756.22	12%
40	Petawawa	ON	2.08%	$2,479.88	13%
41	South Huron	ON	2.36%	$2,281.11	13%
42	Woodstock	ON	2.38%	$2,277.79	13%
43	Mackenzie County	AB	1.19%	$1,313.78	5%
44	Clarence-Rockland	ON	2.03%	$2,585.95	13%
45	Mapleton	ON	2.05%	$2,583.19	13%
46	Whistler	BC	1.18%	$1,947.26	12%
47	Windsor	ON	2.68%	$2,031.84	13%
48	Kenora	ON	2.40%	$2,312.47	13%
49	Kitchener	ON	2.28%	$2,407.50	13%
50	Gravenhurst	ON	2.48%	$2,259.71	13%
51	Chatham-Kent	ON	2.60%	$2,172.23	13%
52	Peterborough	ON	2.51%	$2,266.91	13%
53	Sault Ste. Marie	ON	2.50%	$2,282.41	13%
54	Thorold	ON	2.43%	$2,348.48	13%
55	Langford	BC	1.52%	$1,944.62	12%
56	Norfolk County	ON	2.43%	$2,349.05	13%
57	Salmon Arm	BC	1.79%	$1,843.56	12%
58	Quinte West	ON	2.41%	$2,384.82	13%
59	Kelowna	BC	1.62%	$1,922.20	12%
60	Vernon	BC	1.84%	$1,848.99	12%
61	Cranbrook	BC	1.74%	$1,881.15	12%
62	Greater Napanee	ON	2.42%	$2,388.44	13%
63	Terrace	BC	1.65%	$1,934.36	12%
64	Mountain View County	AB	1.39%	$1,502.90	5%
65	Port Colborne	ON	2.66%	$2,228.71	13%
66	Brantford	ON	2.56%	$2,328.01	13%
67	Powell River	BC	2.09%	$1,806.24	12%
68	Stratford	ON	2.45%	$2,439.18	13%
69	Clearwater County	AB	1.35%	$1,596.60	5%
70	Midland	ON	2.68%	$2,250.78	13%
71	The Nation	ON	2.19%	$2,713.40	13%
72	Essex	ON	2.59%	$2,359.57	13%
73	Kamloops	BC	1.66%	$1,966.88	12%
74	Sooke	BC	1.75%	$1,951.49	12%
75	Fort Erie	ON	2.71%	$2,253.68	13%
76	Welland	ON	2.71%	$2,262.35	13%
77	Campbell River	BC	1.89%	$1,946.05	12%
78	Lac Ste. Anne County	AB	1.43%	$1,633.21	5%
79	Canmore	AB	1.17%	$1,735.62	5%
80	Wetaskiwin	AB	1.72%	$1,488.32	5%
81	Cambridge	ON	2.36%	$2,663.91	13%
82	Courtenay	BC	2.11%	$1,873.47	12%
83	Barrie	ON	2.31%	$2,716.66	13%
84	West Lincoln	ON	2.20%	$2,797.02	13%
85	Lambton Shores	ON	2.63%	$2,412.62	13%
86	Guelph	ON	2.28%	$2,735.87	13%
87	Lake Country	BC	1.60%	$2,139.74	12%
88	Thunder Bay	ON	2.65%	$2,407.97	13%
89	Grand Falls-Windsor	NL	1.17%	$975.78	15%
90	Burnaby	BC	2.01%	$1,953.23	12%
91	Gander	NL	1.06%	$1,051.26	15%
92	St. Thomas	ON	2.78%	$2,330.07	13%
93	Corner Brook	NL	1.21%	$1,035.66	15%
94	Yellowhead County	AB	1.44%	$1,778.25	5%
95	Nanaimo	BC	2.02%	$1,990.20	12%
96	Kingsville	ON	2.56%	$2,563.17	13%
97	St. Catharines	ON	2.68%	$2,432.20	13%
98	Kingston	ON	2.50%	$2,643.66	13%
99	White Rock	BC	2.06%	$1,958.13	12%
100	Orangeville	ON	2.32%	$2,789.94	13%

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