Cambridge

All dollar amounts on this page are in Canadian dollars.

City introduction

Cambridge is a lower-tier city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario. The present City of Cambridge was officially formed by the Province of Ontario on January 1, 1973. Its property tax bill combines the City of Cambridge portion with the Region of Waterloo and school board portions; the City sets only its own portion through its annual budget.

Source: City of Cambridge — City of Cambridge, 2021 Approved Budget and Business Plan.

Combined chart

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

Bars: City of Cambridge tax rate annual increase in the approved budget.

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 — Cambridge tax rate 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 (lower-tier) portion only. The regional municipality's portion and the provincial education tax are set by those bodies, appear on the same bill, and are never part of this series or added to the municipal figure.

For 2026 the whole-bill increase is 3.64% (city about +$42, Region of Waterloo about +$141, school boards $0 on an average home assessed at $344,000, whose whole bill rises from $5,024 to $5,207). That is a different scope from the city tax rate increase charted here and is never merged with it. A mayor's proposed figure of 4.86% for 2026 was superseded by the approved 2.44% and is not used.

The 2025 figure of 1.28% is the approved city increase after stormwater charges were moved off the tax bill onto utility rates; the City's comparable pre-transfer figure is 4.68%. The chart uses the figure the City approved and published for the tax bill, 1.28%, and this note records the transfer so the step down is not misread.

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 Cambridge tax rate 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	2.38%	1.9%	108.6
2020	3.73%	0.7%	108.0

Year	City of Cambridge tax rate 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	1.27%	3.4%	113.0
2022	4.24%	6.8%	113.0
2023	4.74%	3.9%	108.4
2024	7.17%	2.4%	107.6
2025	1.28%	2.1%	104.9
2026	2.44%	No data	No data

Sources for this chart:

City of Cambridge property tax increase, 2019: City of Cambridge, 2020 Budget Summary (2019 comparative figures)
City of Cambridge property tax increase, 2020: City of Cambridge, 2020 Operating Budget Summary (final)
City of Cambridge property tax increase, 2021: City of Cambridge, 2021 Budget and Business Plan — Budget Overview
City of Cambridge property tax increase, 2022–2024: City of Cambridge, Previous budgets
City of Cambridge property tax increase, 2025: City of Cambridge, 2025 Approved Mayor's Budget Book
City of Cambridge property tax increase, 2026: City of Cambridge, 2026 Approved 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 City of Cambridge's own tax rate increase in the approved budget, including the 1% infrastructure renewal levy where it forms part of that increase. 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	2.38%
2020	3.73%

Year	Figure
2021	1.27%
2022	4.24%
2023	4.74%
2024	7.17%
2025	1.28%
2026	2.44%

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.

No City-published residential rate-per-$1,000 series is recorded here. The City's approved budget books publish the city tax increase and the average-household dollar impact (used in the table above), but the City does not publish a year-by-year residential rate per $1,000 in its budget books, and third-party rate tables (for example WOWA) are not used as a source.

Method

This trend uses one metric only, every year: the City of Cambridge's own tax rate increase in the approved budget, including the 1% infrastructure renewal levy where it forms part of that increase.

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 Cambridge tax rate 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.

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

Sources

City of Cambridge introduction: City of Cambridge, 2021 Approved Budget and Business Plan
City of Cambridge: City of Cambridge, 2020 Budget Summary (2019 comparative figures)
City of Cambridge: City of Cambridge, 2020 Operating Budget Summary (final)
City of Cambridge: City of Cambridge, 2021 Budget and Business Plan — Budget Overview
City of Cambridge: City of Cambridge, Previous budgets
City of Cambridge: City of Cambridge, 2025 Approved Mayor's Budget Book
City of Cambridge: City of Cambridge, 2026 Approved Budget
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 Cambridge source before relying on a figure.