Tax Sale TEST
Tax Sale
Properties in significant tax arrears are auctioned for sale each fall.
2025 Tax Sale
The 2025 Tax Sale will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 29, 2025 in Council Chamber, 1435 Water Street. The sale will be advertised in the Daily Courier on Wednesday, September 17 and 24.
2024 Tax Sale
The 2024 Tax Sale was held at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 7, 2024 in Council Chamber, 1435 Water Street. The sale was advertised in the Daily Courier on Friday, September 20 and 27.
Tax Sale Information
Each fall, the City of Kelowna auctions properties that have been delinquent on their property taxes for three years. This sale helps the City recover outstanding taxes and fees to fund the City budget and administer the sale. This authority is granted through the Local Government Act, specifically Sections 645 to 672.
The City will hold a public auction at 10 a.m. on the last Monday in September. If the last Monday in September is a statutory holiday, the Tax Sale will be held the following Monday. The City will close or adjourn the Tax Sale by 12:45 p.m.
Properties whose taxes are delinquent by three years can be auctioned by the City of Kelowna as per the Local Government Act.
Properties involved in the Tax Sale will be advertised by Public Notice. The notice will include the legal description and street address of each property so that prospective bidders can research properties in advance.
All property sales are "as is" without warranty or guarantee by the City of Kelowna.
As required by the Local Government Act, the Tax Sale will be advertised in two issues of a local paper, the Daily Courier. The second advertisement must be no less than three or more than 10 days prior to the sale.
Attention property owner(s): To avoid your property being listed in the public notice, delinquent taxes must be paid approximately three weeks prior to the Tax Sale date.
Properties are sold at auction for the upset price, also known as the starting bid, which equals all outstanding taxes, penalties and interest, plus 5% tax sale costs and Land Title Office fees.
If no bidding takes place within three calls by the auctioneer, the City is declared the purchaser at the upset price.
Bidders interested in participating in the Annual Tax Sale auction must attend in person and register at the welcome desk starting at 9 a.m. If bidding on behalf of a company, the bidder must have their social insurance number or business number.
Bidders should make arrangements with their financial institution to have the guaranteed funds ready by the payment deadline in order to hold the property.
The highest bid will be recorded. Payment must be in the form of guaranteed funds (cash, certified cheque or bank draft) for the full bid amount and must be received by 12:30 p.m. on the day of the Tax Sale.
If the highest bidder does not pay by 12:30 p.m., the City will conduct another auction the next day at 10 a.m.
The original property owner(s) must be notified of the sale of their property by the Collector (auctioneer) within 90 days following a Tax Sale, as required by law. Property owner(s) have the right to buy back, or redeem, their property by paying the taxes and fees within one year of the sale.
To redeem a property purchased by a private bidder or the City, the original property owner(s) must remit the full upset price, plus interest on the purchase price at a rate set by the Province, within one year of the Tax Sale.
To redeem a property purchased by the City on which improvements were made, the original owner(s) can remit 50 per cent of the upset price, plus interest, as an instalment, thus extending the redemption period by 11 months and 21 days.
Attention purchasers: If the property is redeemed by the original owner(s), the Collector (auctioneer) will refund your purchase price plus interest to the date of redemption.
For information regarding rights during redemption period, please see the Local Government Act Section 665.
If the property isn’t redeemed by the original owners(s) during the one-year period following the Tax Sale, the Collector (auctioneer) registers the new owner at the provincial Land Titles Office, thus cancelling all previous registered charges, except for those matters set out in Section 276(1) (c) to (g) of the Land Title Act and any lien of the Crown, an improvement district or a local district.
The new owners are required to pay the property transfer tax to the Provincial Sales Tax Administrator after application has been made to register in the Land Titles Office.
