Education Minister Sebastien Proulx tabled Bill 166 at the National Assembly Thursday morning. The bill is aimed at reforming Quebec’s 25-year-old school taxation system.
The purpose of Bill 166 is to make school taxes uniform in the different administrative regions of the province and to introduce a regional school taxation system.
If adopted, the school tax rate would be set at the lowest current rate in each region.
WATCH BELOW: Quebec is one step closer to harmonizing school taxes across the province
The tax break will benefit anglophones, who traditionally have had the highest school tax rates in their regions.
In the Quebec City region, for example, the average school tax bill for the Central Quebec School Board is $928 versus $401 for the Découvreurs School Board.
School taxes on the island of Montreal have been harmonized since the 1970s so the tax breaks won’t be as noticeable as in other regions.
The government has also included a basic exemption for property owners.
At the beginning of the month, Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said that the province is able to introduce school tax harmonization thanks to a healthy economy.
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The reform is expected to cost the government approximately $670 million per year.
— With files from the Canadian Press