“It Is Unfair”: An Arctic City Ends Churches’ Automatic Property Tax Exemption

• Iqaluit city council unanimously passed a bylaw ending automatic property tax exemptions
• Churches and community groups must now apply for tax relief and meet strict conditions
• Total relief for all groups is capped at $300,000 a year
• A Catholic priest called it unfair; the local MP said everyone is short of resources

Churches in Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s Nunavut territory, lost their automatic property tax exemption in 2022, Global News reported on July 26, 2022. City council unanimously passed a bylaw requiring churches and community organisations to apply for tax relief.

Under the bylaw, organisations must meet strict conditions to qualify, and total annual relief for all groups is capped at $300,000. The change was to take effect in 2023. Sixteen local organisations had previously been tax-exempt, including eight religious institutions.

Father Daniel Perreault, pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, objected. “It is unfair. It is a kind of revenge, a kind of game,” he said, adding that the bylaw may limit the church’s ability to offer free services, from weddings and funerals to hospital and prison visits.

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout defended the measure: “Everyone is lacking in resources. It’s not fair to the rest of the municipality.” The vote came after the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites and shortly before Pope Francis visited Iqaluit.

In Jamaica, church property used for worship has long enjoyed tax exemption, and proposals to change that have drawn strong reactions from church leaders. Iqaluit shows how quickly an exemption that seemed permanent can be turned into a capped, conditional benefit when public finances are tight or public goodwill towards churches falls. Churches that document the community services they provide from their buildings will be best placed to defend their position if the question is raised again here.

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