Lethbridge

All dollar amounts on this page are in Canadian dollars.

City introduction

Lethbridge is a city in southern Alberta. It was incorporated as a town in 1891 — the first meeting of the Town Council was held with Charles Alexander Magrath as the first mayor — and the City of Lethbridge was incorporated in 1906. The High Level Bridge, the city's best-known landmark, was completed in 1909.

The City describes a community that combines the amenities of a city with a mild climate, short commute times, a wide range of recreation and culture opportunities, and small-town charm. Its history timeline in the City's operating budget also records the river's name being officially changed from Belly to Oldman in 1915, the opening of Lethbridge Community College in 1957 and the hosting of the Canada Winter Games in 1975.

Source: City of Lethbridge — City of Lethbridge, 2019–2022 Operating Budget (City Profile: Demographics & Statistics; History of Lethbridge).

Combined chart

Lethbridge property tax increase, Canada inflation, and Canadian dollar Real CEER, 2015–2026

Bars: City of Lethbridge municipal property tax annual increase. The 2023–2026 four-year plan average is not a year-by-year actual and has no bars.

Lines: Canada inflation (Canada CPI annual average, Statistics Canada) and Canadian dollar Real CEER (Bank of Canada). CEER is on the separate right axis and is not a percentage.

Bars — Lethbridge municipal property tax increase
Line — Canada inflation (Statistics Canada CPI annual average)
Line — Canadian dollar Real CEER — Bank of Canada, annual average of monthly values, total index (1999=100)

Scope notes

All figures are the municipal portion only. The provincial education tax, which the municipality collects for the Province of Alberta and which forms a large part of an Alberta tax bill, is a separate levy with its own changes; it is not part of this series and is never added to the municipal figure.

Lethbridge budgets in four-year cycles. For 2023–2026 the approved four-year operating budget set an average municipal rate increase of 5.1% per year; that is a plan average, not a measured increase for any single year, so no bar is drawn for 2023–2026 and the years are No data in the chart. For 2026 the City's explainer gives execution amounts instead: the average single-detached municipal portion rose by $147, and the average whole bill by $267 — the whole-bill figure includes the provincial education tax and the Green Acres levy and is not a municipal increase. The verified year-by-year municipal figures are 1.82% for 2019 and 0% for each of 2020, 2021 and 2022, confirmed by the City.

A year shown as “No data” has no bar for property tax and no line point for that series. A missing year breaks a line: no line segment crosses a gap, and no value is interpolated. Inflation for 2026 is not yet published as an annual average. Each Canadian dollar Real CEER value is the annual average of the 12 monthly total Real CEER values from the Bank of Canada (a computed annual average, not a figure the Bank publishes directly as an annual value). CEER is an index on a separate right axis and is not a percentage. CEER for 2026 is No data because the year is incomplete.

Data behind the chart

The data table below carries one row per year, in year order, with the tax increase, the inflation value and the CEER value for that year, or “No data” where a series has no verified figure.

Year	City of Lethbridge municipal property tax increase	Canada inflation — Statistics Canada CPI annual average	Canadian dollar Real CEER — Bank of Canada, annual average of monthly values, total index (1999=100)
2015	No data	1.1%	110.0
2016	No data	1.4%	108.4
2017	No data	1.6%	110.0
2018	No data	2.3%	109.3
2019	1.82%	1.9%	108.6
2020	0% (verified)	0.7%	108.0

Year	City of Lethbridge municipal property tax increase	Canada inflation — Statistics Canada CPI annual average	Canadian dollar Real CEER — Bank of Canada, annual average of monthly values, total index (1999=100)
2021	0% (verified)	3.4%	113.0
2022	0% (verified)	6.8%	113.0
2023	No data	3.9%	108.4
2024	No data	2.4%	107.6
2025	No data	2.1%	104.9
2026	No data	No data	No data

Sources for this chart:

City of Lethbridge property tax increase, 2019–2022: City of Lethbridge news, "Council approves next four-year operating budget"
Canada inflation, 2015–2025: Statistics Canada, Table 18-10-0005-01, CPI annual average. The 2026 annual average is not yet published.
Canadian dollar Real CEER, 2015–2025: Bank of Canada, Valet series CEER_BROADM, total index (1999=100), source file; explainer, Canadian effective exchange rates. Each value is the annual average of the 12 monthly total Real CEER values (a computed annual average, not a figure the Bank publishes directly as an annual value). CEER for 2026 is No data because the year is incomplete.

Housing property-tax historical trend

The trend uses one measure only: the municipal property tax increase for each year (the 2023–2026 four-year plan average is recorded separately and is never charted as a year-by-year actual). Each row is the figure for that year on that one measure. A year with no verified figure on that measure is shown as No data.

Year	Figure
2015	No data
2016	No data
2017	No data
2018	No data
2019	1.82%
2020	0%

Year	Figure
2021	0%
2022	0%
2023	No year-by-year actual published — 2023–2026 four-year plan average +5.1% per year (plan value only)
2024	No year-by-year actual published — 2023–2026 four-year plan average +5.1% per year (plan value only)
2025	No year-by-year actual published — 2023–2026 four-year plan average +5.1% per year (plan value only)
2026	Average single-detached municipal portion +$147 (2026 execution); four-year plan average +5.1% per year (plan value only, not a year-by-year actual)

Separate note — tax rates, not the trend

This note is separate from the trend above and is not part of it. A residential tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value can move even when the levy increase is small, because the assessment base changes. Rate figures are therefore not used as the trend and are not mixed into the increase chart.

Mill rates (per $1,000 of assessed value) from the City's property tax estimator page. Only the municipal portion is tabled; the same page lists the provincial education rate at 2.6124 and the Green Acres Foundation rate at 0.1403, for a total of 10.5022:

Year	Rate per $1,000	Scope	Source
2026	7.7495	municipal portion only, single-family residential (mills)	City of Lethbridge, Estimate Your Property Taxes, http://www.lethbridge.ca/property-taxes/estimate-your-property-taxes/

Method

This trend uses one metric only, every year: the municipal property tax increase for each year (the 2023–2026 four-year plan average is recorded separately and is never charted as a year-by-year actual).

Where a city publishes an increase as components, the components are recorded in the scope notes; a total is used only where the city itself publishes it.

Canada inflation is Statistics Canada, Table 18-10-0005-01, CPI annual average. Canadian dollar Real CEER is Bank of Canada, Valet series CEER_BROADM, total index (1999=100); each value is the annual average of the 12 monthly total Real CEER values (a computed annual average, not a figure the Bank publishes directly as an annual value).

How to read this page

Bars are the Lethbridge municipal property tax increase. Lines are Canada inflation and Canadian dollar Real CEER.

The left axis is a percentage axis shared by the bars and the inflation line. The right axis is a separate index axis for Canadian dollar Real CEER only. CEER is an index and is not a percentage.

A year shown as “No data” has no bar for property tax and no line point for that series, and a missing year breaks a line. A verified 0% increase sits at the zero line and is marked “0% (verified)”.

Tax rates per $1,000 are separate from the trend and are not charted.

Sources

City of Lethbridge introduction: City of Lethbridge, 2019–2022 Operating Budget (City Profile: Demographics & Statistics; History of Lethbridge)
City of Lethbridge: searched: City of Lethbridge, 2015 to 2018 Operating Budget
City of Lethbridge: City of Lethbridge news, "Council approves next four-year operating budget"
City of Lethbridge: City of Lethbridge news, "Explaining property tax, assessment changes for 2026"
Statistics Canada, Table 18-10-0005-01: CPI annual average
Bank of Canada, Valet series CEER_BROADM: Real CEER source file

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This page is an independent guide. It is not a government site and it is not an official site. It is general information only and is not tax advice. Check the official City of Lethbridge source before relying on a figure.