Evidence that works before a Manitoba Board of Revision

The rule that decides everything: value on the reference date

The Municipal Assessment Act defines value as the amount the property might reasonably be expected to realize if sold in the open market on the reference date by a willing seller to a willing buyer. For the 2027 roll, that date is April 1, 2025.

Winnipeg’s Board of Revision procedures make the same point: your assessment should reflect what your property would reasonably have sold for on the reference date, in its current physical condition. The Board decides whether the assessment reflects your home’s market value on that date.

Evidence #1: comparable sales

Winnipeg says it plainly: “Sales information is the evidence that is given the most weight in a hearing.” The Municipal Board recommends finding three or four comparable properties, ideally nearby homes like yours that sold before the reference date.

Compare what the Board compares: location, proximity of services, lot size, house size and age, number and size of bedrooms and bathrooms, finished or unfinished basement, fireplaces, garage, outbuildings and significant repairs. For a condo: floor, corner or inside unit, floor plan, parking, elevators and building services.

Set them out in a chart with address, features and sale price, with photos and a map, as the Municipal Board suggests. Sales data is online on Winnipeg’s assessment website and on the provincial site for the rest of Manitoba.

Evidence #2: errors and defects

An error on the assessor’s file (area, basement, garage, class) can often be settled with the assessor before the Board. The Municipal Board notes that the assessor may be prepared to adjust the assessment to reflect a deficiency.

For a real defect, bring photos and a written estimate from a contractor. The Municipal Board even recommends having the contractor attend the hearing. Winnipeg also lists appraisals or value estimates from a professional appraiser or realtor among useful evidence.

What is ruled out or carries little weight

A useful nuance: the province says assessments are considered fair if similar properties have similar assessments, and invites owners to compare before calling the assessor. That comparison helps you spot a problem; before Winnipeg’s Board and the Municipal Board, sales are what prove it.

• Sales after the reference date: “POST REFERENCE SALES ARE NOT ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE,” according to Winnipeg.
• Your neighbours’ assessments: Winnipeg and the Municipal Board do not treat assessment comparisons as evidence of value.
• Normal wear and tear: roofing, windows, paint, worn flooring or dated finishes will not lower the value, Winnipeg says.
• Tax rates or services: the Board does not rule on them.

Preparing and filing your evidence

In Winnipeg, evidence for exchange goes to the Board office no later than two business days before the hearing, by 4:30 p.m.; the office forwards it to the parties the next business day. Late evidence is accepted at the discretion of the chair and panel. Photos should show the property in its current condition, taken as close to the hearing as possible.

For an income property, one point matters: if you did not return the income and expense information the province requested, any reduction won on appeal takes effect only the following year, and different figures presented to the Board may not be considered.

If your case is complex, read when a professional appraiser helps.

Frequently asked questions