Reflecting On Stamford Kiwanis: Charitable Exemption Broadened

This year, the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA" or the "Court") released a landmark decision in Stamford Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes Inc v Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, 2025 ONCA 450 ("Stamford Kiwanis"), expanding access to charitable municipal tax exemptions under Ontario's Assessment Act, RSO 1990, c A.31 (the "Assessment Act"). To do so, a unanimous five-judge panel of the Court overturned its prior decision in Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph Housing Corp v Regional Assessment Commissioner, Region 1, 1998 CanLII 2943 (ON CA) ("Religious Hospitallers").

Background

Stamford Kiwanis Non-Profit Homes Inc. ("Stamford") is a charitable, non-profit philanthropic corporation that provides affordable housing to low-income residents in Niagara Falls. Stamford applied for a property tax exemption under subparagraph 3(1)12(iii) of the Assessment Act, which exempts from taxation "[l]and owned, used and occupied by ... any charitable,