The City of Calgary’s annual auction of homes and properties that are more than one year in arrears of tax payments has been set for April 23.
The city holds the public real estate auction to recover the unpaid property tax, as directed by the province and in compliance of the Municipal Government Act, which requires such properties to be publicly auctioned.
According to the city, “When a property has tax arrears for more than one year, a tax recovery notification or lien is registered on the property. If the tax arrears are not paid in full, a public auction will be held to recover uncollected property taxes.”
“Upon payment of the full tax arrears, the city will discharge a tax recovery notification or lien and the property will not be auctioned.”
In a presentation to the city's Infrastructure and Planning Committee on Wednesday, city administration said the auction is important in recovering overdue property taxes that fund essential municipal services.
“Before the public auction, the city undertakes an extensive notification process, where Credit and Collections works compassionately and collaboratively with property owners to explore payment options and resolve outstanding tax arrears,” said the administration’s presentation.
“The auction is used only as the last resort. Property owners have the right to pay all outstanding taxes up to the start of the auction and have the property removed from the sale.”
“In accordance with the Municipal Government Act, council must establish a minimum reserve bid and any applicable conditions for each parcel offered for sale.”
Net proceeds from sales go into the city’s Tax Forfeiture account and previous owners can apply to claim the proceeds. Proceeds not claimed within 10 years from the sales date can be used by the city for municipal purposes.
“A property is considered sold when the auctioneer declares the property to be sold,” says administration. “If no bids on a property are received, the auctioneer will declare bids to be closed and no further bidding will be accepted.”
The full terms and conditions of sale and the list of the properties being offered is updated at 10am daily at www.calgary.ca/publicauction.
This year’s public auction is scheduled for 2026 April 23 at 10 a.m. in the Municipal Complex.