BC Assessment was created in 1974 in response to the need for a fair, independent organization that valued property in the province. Since its inception, BC Assessment has provided uniform, fair and independent service to the people of British Columbia.
To learn more about BC Assessment’s history, read our
Corporate History document.
From 1860 to 1973
Our modern system of property taxation has roots in England in the Middle Ages. William the Conqueror completed an inventory of the nation's wealth, including farm animals. This was used to provide a basis for a tax and wealth, and was England's first complete assessment roll.
In 1860, British Columbia and Vancouver Island were still separate colonies; New Westminster was established by proclamation as the first city in the Colony of British Columbia. At the same time, the
Real Estate Act was passed in the Colony of Vancouver Island, levying an annual tax of one per cent on the market value of real estate. Assessors were appointed to perform the assessment function.
Originally, the duties of assessors required minimal on-site or mass appraisal expertise. Instead, assessors established actual market values based on property owners’ estimates to compile the assessment rolls.
Over time, each city created separate organizations using individual assessment criteria. As a result, due to the lack of standard valuation methods, assessments were frequently challenged and often difficult to defend. By 1973, with 140 independent assessment organizations in British Columbia, the situation had grown into a serious provincial crisis. Alarmed with the rising incidence of serious equity grievances, and pressured by property owners and the public sectors, government was compelled to take action and implement new and improved systems.
1973 to the present day
By the end of 1973, the British Columbia government struck an all-party Special Legislative Committee on Assessment to explore remedies and to propose recommendations to the annual assessment process. In 1974, the all-party committee unanimously recommended to the Provincial Cabinet that legislation be passed to create a completely independent assessment authority. Their report stated, "This Authority must be independent of taxing functions (either municipal or provincial) and its control must be such as will result unmistakably in complete independence."
On July 2, 1974, the
Assessment Authority Act received Royal Assent. The passing of this Act and its companion, the Assessment Act, reconciled almost 100 years of inequities, commissions, and official government reports into British Columbia's property assessment and valuation process.
The
Assessment Authority Act granted government the power to create a province-wide assessment authority. Six months later, the British Columbia Assessment Authority had produced the province's first impartial and independent assessment rolls and notices. Major problems that existed before the Authority's establishment have been fully resolved and issues such as efficiency, professionalism, impartiality and uniformity, have vastly improved.
