British Columbia Taxation

Property Assessment and Taxes
The British Columbia Archives holds copies of colonial property tax assessment rolls for southern Vancouver Island for the years 1861-1871.

British Columbia provincial property tax assessment records on microfilm for 1876-1948 (but mostly for 1888-1924; some rolls have not survived) are at the British Columbia Archives. For the address, see British Columbia Archives and Libraries.

Records are available for these historical assessment districts:


 * Alberni
 * Barkerville
 * Comox
 * Cowichan
 * Fort Steele
 * Golden
 * Gulf Islands
 * Kamloops
 * Kettle River
 * Lillooet
 * Nelson
 * New Westminster
 * Prince George
 * Princeton
 * Quesnel Forks
 * Revelstoke
 * Rossland
 * Slocan
 * Vancouver
 * Vernon
 * Victoria

Assessment records may provide an individual's year of birth, religion, occupation, number of people in household, and value of buildings owned and residence if other than the property assessed.

Some local archives or libraries will have copies of these property assessment records for their own areas, for example, the City of Vancouver Archives,

The VI History website includes searchable data from tax assessment rolls and maps of the cities of Nanaimo (1881, 1891) and Victoria (1901) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Related records

Voters' lists or citizenship records may include related information, since the right to vote was often tied to property ownership and citizenship in British Columbia history.

Historical newspapers may have information about property assessment and taxation, including assessment appeals and Court of Revision reports, lists of property sales for unpaid taxes, notices of land sales or mortgage notices, for example, see the British Columbia Gazette (the government periodical) or local papers.

Directories may include information about ownership or tenancy of residences or business properties.

The British Columbia Archives has an online BC Land Records Guide.