Why your BC Assessment value may not be what you expect.
To help equip yourself for the best chance of success during an appeal, it’s best to review some reasons why your assessed value may not be what you expected. BC Assessment bases its valuations on the following factors:
- The location of the property. That is, how desirable is the place it’s located?
- The size of the property. Is it a tiny house or a multi-room mansion?
- The size of the lot. Is it a small lot, or a massive multi-acre estate?
- View from the home. A mountain view is worth more than a line of dumpsters.
- The property age. Is it newly built or an outdated structure? It could also be historically valuable.
- Home add-ons such as carports, garages and decks.
- The sales’ prices from similar homes in your area.
In essence, that means that surrounding properties can have an impact on your property value, in addition to your own property. For example, if all your neighbours improve their properties by renovating their homes, upgrading landscaping and similar efforts, this could increase your assessed value as a knock-on effect. In situations like this, filing an appeal to show that you didn’t undertake similar efforts could help your appeal succeed.
Beginning an appeal.
Appealing a BC Assessment value can involve a two-step process. These are officially called the Property Assessment Review Panel (PARP) and the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB or “the Board”). But before we dive into those, there is a more informal process you can use.
You can first call BC Assessment and voice your concerns. Sometimes, if BC Assessment agrees there has been an error, assessments can be changed with formal agreement between BC Assessment and the property owner without a formal hearing. If that does not succeed, you may proceed to first filing with the PARP.
Appealing to the PARP.
To file your BC Assessment formal appeal at the first level of the process, first you must fill out the Notice of Complaint (Appeal) Form and submit it in writing, online, via email or by post, before the January 31st deadline (in 2026 it's on February 2nd, because the 31st falls on a weekend). It will only be available online before the deadline passes. The form will ask for your personal information, some information about your property and the reason why you are filing an appeal. If you fill out the form on the BC Assessment website, you can submit it directly, but if you fill out the PDF, you must either email it or send it as a letter to the proper BC Assessment office for your area (which are listed at the end of the PDF form).
If you miss the deadline, you may still be able to file an appeal. Contact BC Assessment before March 15th and explain your situation, and they may hear your appeal. Usually, they grant exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, such as natural disasters. They usually don’t grant exceptions for forgetting the date, being out of the country and other minor considerations. If you filed late, the panel must determine if there are reasons for it to exercise their discretion and hear a late complaint, called a validity hearing. If the panel determines your complaint was sent after the deadline and it doesn't meet the requirements for the panel to exercise its discretion, it will not hear your complaint. You can still appeal this to the PAAB, however (which is described below).
PARP hearings occur on business days during February through March 15th each year. After you submit your complaint, you’ll receive a Notice of Hearing informing you of the date of your hearing. After you receive this notice, you must call your local BC Assessment office and schedule a specific time on that day for your hearing. The phone number to call is on your Property Assessment Notice and your Notice of Hearing. The notice may not arrive until up to five days before your hearing date, so keep an eye out for it. If you included your email address on your Notice of Complaint (Appeal) Form earlier, it will arrive via email as well. You must then call BC Assessment to receive your dial-in participant code, which will be sent typically via email, although it can be given to you over the phone as well.
Prepare your evidence.
While waiting for your hearing date, you should take the time to prepare. The burden of proof lies with you, the complainant, meaning you must prove the BC Assessment value is inaccurate. Gather strong evidence that this is the case, including any documents that support your case. You must upload your evidence to the Property Assessment Review Panel Online Evidence Submission System (POESS) at least one day before your hearing. If you want to compare similar homes to yours, you can follow this guide and upload a spreadsheet to the POESS to help reinforce your case.
Your evidence package should be well organized, concise and contain relevant information about your case. You have limited time during your hearing to make your case, so include only necessary documents and information. To see a sample evidence package, you can take a look at the one provided by the province. Take time to review the entire appeals process before your hearing date.
Attend the conference call.
On the date and time of your hearing, you must call in to the conference call number for your hearing. You will only receive your dial-in participant code once you call BC Assessment upon receiving your Notice of Hearing, as mentioned earlier. As noted above, it will usually arrive via email (although you can ask for it by phone). You must call in to the conference call, they will not call you.
The number will begin with 1-877 and the instructions for joining the call will be in the Notice. Remember, the BC Assessment authority will not call you, you must call them when it’s time. It’s best to begin the call about five minutes before your scheduled time, to get through the pre-recorded sections and ensure you’re ready.
During the call, you will be asked to provide your evidence first. BC Assessment will then present their case. PARP will ask questions, as well, and allow for questions the parties have to ask of each other, if they have any.
The panel will then take time to deliberate. The panel may not provide you with a decision at the end of the call, and instead elect to defer their decision to a later date (but still before March 15th). Calls usually take 30 minutes, but can run over. This means you may have to wait in line for another call to finish first before you can begin yours.
There is no requirement for the panel to provide you a reason in writing for their decision, but they will usually give you reasons verbally. They may decide to defer their decision to a later date or change the valuation, dismiss the case for lack of evidence or determine the initial assessment was correct and take no action. All decisions have to happen by March 15th, and you’ll receive a Notice of Decision by around April 7th.
Appealing to the PAAB.
If you disagree with the PARP’s decision, you can appeal to the PAAB. You cannot go directly to the PAAB. You must first receive a decision from the PARP. The deadline to appeal to the PAAB is April 30th. The PAAB is an independent entity, and its decisions can only be appealed to the BC Supreme Court. You must submit your report in writing or online via the PAAB portal. Note that the portal is not available until the first PARP decisions are sent, which is usually around March 1st.
The PAAB offers a guide to help you through the next steps, but here’s what you need to know in brief.
Gather evidence.
Determine what exactly about your property makes the BC Assessment value incorrect. Is it water damaged? Is your view obstructed? Take photos and document everything in writing. If there are structural issues, get a signed report by a home inspector or other licensed professional. You can ask for your property’s physical inventory from your local BC Assessment office to see that everything is included correctly.
If you’re concerned your assessment does not reflect the market value of your property or it’s not in line with your neighbours, contact an experienced property appraiser and start researching comparable properties. The PAAB has an in-depth explainer that covers what to do if you think your property is not valued correctly in this way. If you believe your property must be evaluated lower based on similar properties to yours receiving lower evaluations (called “equitable value”), there’s another guide to help you prepare a case and a tool to help see if this applies to you.
Let your BC Assessment office know you’ll be appealing.
You should let your local BC Assessment office know you will be appealing. While you already went through the PARP, they may want to come inspect the conditions you specified in your first appeal. You may end up working out a settlement. Or, if they do agree with you that an appeal is necessary, both you and BC Assessment will sign a recommendation form to submit to the PAAB.
If your issue is not resolved during this preliminary call, then PAAB will set up a conference call to initiate next steps.
Attend the conference call.
You will receive details from the PAAB about a conference call to discuss your case. Once it is the date and time for your call, you will go over your preliminary evidence, the issue at hand and whether the PAAB thinks they can resolve the appeal during the call.
If the PAAB thinks that the appeal cannot be handled during the call, then it is time to prepare a full case.
Submit your full evidence package.
Your case will be strongest if you have written submissions explaining what your Assessment issue is and why you think it applies. Include relevant information, but do not “pad out” your documentation with irrelevant material simply to make it seem more impressive.
As a reminder, you’ll use different strategies for contesting the market value of your property versus the consistency or fairness (equity) of your assessment.
The PAAB will also include their own written submission explaining why BC Assessment valued your property the way it did. You will have to respond to these in a rebuttal. Be sure to address their points directly – don’t just repeat your first submission or bring up new issues.
BC Assessment's decision.
Once you go through this process, BC Assessment will send you their decision in writing. This will likely not happen right away. Instead, it will probably take a few months.
Appealing to the PAAB is a detailed, involved and laborious process. We highly recommend thoroughly reading their website to understand every step involved. Additionally, getting in touch with a property appraiser, home inspector and other professionals to prepare your case as early as possible is a good idea.
Final thoughts on appealing your BC Assessment value.
Appealing your BC Assessment value is possible, but it is not something to be taken lightly. It requires extensive research, preparation and due diligence. According to BC Assessment themselves, over 99% of assessed properties are satisfied with their assessed value in 2025. If you’re not one of them, REW has professional agents ready to help you determine comparable properties.
