Red Deer

All dollar amounts on this page are in Canadian dollars.

City introduction

Red Deer, in central Alberta, takes its name from the river that flows through the city. The Cree referred to the river as "Waskasoo Seepee" — Elk River — because of the abundance of elk along its banks; early British fur traders misidentified the elk as a type of European red deer and mistranslated the Cree name as "Red Deer River", and settlers later applied the name "Red Deer" to their growing community. Waskasoo Creek and the Waskasoo neighbourhood keep the Cree name.

The City grew rapidly during the tremendous economic development and population growth of the first decade of the twentieth century, and it succeeded in establishing itself as a regional service centre for Central Alberta.

Source: City of Red Deer — City of Red Deer, Waskasoo Community Plan (adopted by Council February 1, 2016), §3 History.

Combined chart

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

Bars: City of Red Deer municipal operating-budget tax annual increase, in the City's own wording.

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 — Red Deer municipal operating-budget 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.

Scope caution: Red Deer's figures are the tax increases approved for the operating budget, in the wording the City published for each year — for 2026 the City's 2026 Property Tax Overview states a municipal operating budget increase of 3.97%, which is not worded by the City as a direct tax increase; for 2021 and 2022 the approved tax increase required to balance the operating budget was 0% (reserves covered the shortfall); for 2023–2025 the figures are the municipal tax increases in the approved budgets (2024 was amended in January 2024 to 6.15%, superseding the 4.12% set in the original 2023–2024 budget). Whole-bill figures that combine the municipal amount with requisitions are a different scope and are not used. The City notes that, because the provincial education levy rose (+12.83% in 2026), the average homeowner's whole-bill increase will be higher than the municipal figure.

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 Red Deer municipal operating-budget 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	No data	1.9%	108.6
2020	No data	0.7%	108.0

Year	City of Red Deer municipal operating-budget 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	4.61%	3.9%	108.4
2024	6.15%	2.4%	107.6
2025	10.5%	2.1%	104.9
2026	3.97%	No data	No data

Sources for this chart:

City of Red Deer property tax increase, 2021: City of Red Deer, 2021–2022 Operating Budget (Section 3)
City of Red Deer property tax increase, 2022: City of Red Deer news, "City encouraged by 2022 provincial budget" (February 25, 2022)
City of Red Deer property tax increase, 2023: City of Red Deer, 2023–2024 Capital and Operating Budgets
City of Red Deer property tax increase, 2024: City of Red Deer news, "2024 amended budget approved" (January 25, 2024)
City of Red Deer property tax increase, 2025: City of Red Deer, Budget 2025 FAQ
City of Red Deer property tax increase, 2026: City of Red Deer, Your Property Tax — 2026 Property Tax Overview
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 increase the City approved for the tax-funded side of its operating budget, in the City's published wording for each year. 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	No data
2020	No data

Year	Figure
2021	0%
2022	0%
2023	4.61%
2024	6.15%
2025	10.5%
2026	3.97%

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.

Municipal rates from the City's annual Tax Rate Bylaw, Schedule A, converted to per $1,000 of assessed value (the bylaw's decimal rate per $1 is given in the scope column). The same bylaw sets the provincial education rate for residential classes at 2.6428 per $1,000 and a management-bodies (Bridges Community Living) rate of 0.0295 per $1,000 — neither is a municipal rate, so neither is tabled:

Year	Rate per $1,000	Scope	Source
2026	7.0566	Single Family Residential, municipal rate only (bylaw rate 0.0070566 per $1 of assessed value)	City of Red Deer, Tax Rate Bylaw 3740/2026, Schedule A, https://www.reddeer.ca/media/reddeerca/city-government/bylaws/-3740_2026_-_Tax_Rate_Bylaw_2026.pdf
2026	8.1151	Multiple Family Residential, municipal rate only (bylaw rate 0.0081151 per $1 of assessed value)	City of Red Deer, Tax Rate Bylaw 3740/2026, Schedule A, https://www.reddeer.ca/media/reddeerca/city-government/bylaws/-3740_2026_-_Tax_Rate_Bylaw_2026.pdf

Method

This trend uses one metric only, every year: the increase the City approved for the tax-funded side of its operating budget, in the City's published wording for each year.

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 Red Deer municipal operating-budget 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 Red Deer introduction: City of Red Deer, Waskasoo Community Plan (adopted by Council February 1, 2016), §3 History
City of Red Deer: City of Red Deer, 2021–2022 Operating Budget (Section 3)
City of Red Deer: City of Red Deer news, "City encouraged by 2022 provincial budget" (February 25, 2022)
City of Red Deer: City of Red Deer, 2023–2024 Capital and Operating Budgets
City of Red Deer: City of Red Deer news, "2024 amended budget approved" (January 25, 2024)
City of Red Deer: City of Red Deer, Budget 2025 FAQ
City of Red Deer: City of Red Deer, Your Property Tax — 2026 Property Tax Overview
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 Red Deer source before relying on a figure.