Amended and supplementary notices: when BC Assessment changes your assessment mid-year

Three ways the roll changes after January

The roll completed in December is not frozen. The Assessment Act provides three mechanisms. First, correction by consent: before March 16, the assessor may amend an entry to fix an error or omission, with the owner's consent (s. 10(2)). Second, decisions of PARP and PAAB, which produce the revised roll. Third, the supplementary roll, which can follow at any point in the year (s. 12).

This guide focuses on the third. BC Assessment calls these assessments "SUPPs". It describes them on a page for local governments, which receive a summary of these changes so they can adjust taxes.

When a supplementary roll is issued

The Act sets out when the assessor puts a property on the supplementary roll:

• Property missed or under-assessed for the current year. The assessor must assess it on a supplementary roll (s. 12(2)).
• Property missed or under-assessed in a previous year. Only if the shortfall comes from an owner's failure to disclose, concealment, or a missing or incorrect return (s. 12(3)).
• Errors or omissions to correct. The assessor may correct them by supplementary roll up to December 31 of the year after the roll is completed (s. 12(4)).
• 12-month limit. Outside the previous-year case, no supplementary roll may change a roll later than 12 months after it is completed (s. 12(6)).

What BC Assessment corrects, and what it does not

BC Assessment writes that "SUPPs are only issued to correct significant factual errors and omissions, not opinions of value." They work in both directions: a property assessed for less, or more, than it should have been. To challenge an opinion of value, the route remains the annual January 31 complaint.

According to the same page, these changes often come from information BC Assessment did not have before the completed roll was produced, or during the PARP period. They are also used to reflect changes in the occupation of Crown land in a municipality.

What about renovations or damage?

The basic rule is still section 18(2): value is set on the property's physical condition on October 31. Work finished after that date counts in the next roll whose condition date follows it. BC Assessment adds that details for a property under construction are not updated in Assessment Search until construction is complete. Municipalities typically inform it of building permits they issue.

The Act has a special case for damage. If improvements are substantially damaged or destroyed between October 31 and January 1, and cannot reasonably be repaired before January 1, the assessor must notify the review panel (s. 10(3)(c.1)), and the value reflects their condition on December 31 (s. 18(4)). The official pages consulted provide no mid-year reassessment for damage after January 1. See also deadlines and key dates.

Challenging a supplementary assessment

Section 33(2) of the Assessment Act sets the deadline: the complaint must be filed with the assessor no later than January 31 of the year following the year the roll was changed or amended under section 12. The rules for the annual roll apply to the supplementary roll (s. 13(1)). If the complaint is not resolved by a correction with your consent, it goes before a review panel at the next sitting of review panels (s. 13(2)).

An example based on the Act: a supplementary notice received in September 2026 must be challenged by January 31, 2027. That day is a Sunday, so check the date BC Assessment announces. The grounds are those in section 32(1), and the panel's decision can then be appealed to PAAB by April 30 (s. 50). A correction made by consent before March 16 can also be appealed to PAAB (s. 50(1)(c)). See after you appeal.

The effect on your taxes

In municipalities governed by the Community Charter, taxes based on a supplementary roll require 30 days' notice for payment, with no penalty added in that period (s. 241(1)). If the supplementary assessment is set aside or reduced, the municipality refunds the excess taxes, plus any penalty and interest paid on that excess, less any arrears owed (s. 241(2)). And if an assessment changes after the annual tax bylaw is adopted, the collector adjusts the taxes (s. 240).

The arithmetic is unchanged: amended value × the rate for your class ÷ 1,000. The method is in cost and savings. The City of Vancouver and rural areas may fall under other statutes: check with your taxing authority.

When an amended notice arrives

Payotte promises no outcome. For other provinces, see the Canadian guide, and for the gap between assessment and sale price, municipal assessment vs market value.

• Compare the amended notice with the January notice: which detail changed, and why?
• Check your characteristics in Assessment Search with the property record checklist.
• Call the local office shown on the notice for an explanation.
• Note the complaint deadline: January 31 after the change.
• Pay the taxes within the 30-day notice; any over-payment is refunded if the assessment goes down.

Frequently asked questions