Wellington North saw unprecedented growth in 2024

WELLINGTON NORTH – Mayor Andy Lennox is calling the past year of growth in his township “unprecedented,” after the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) released its 2024 assessment rolls.

It was a record-breaking year for Ontario, with more than $42.7 billion in new assessments across the province, and Wellington North landed in the top five for growth rates for municipalities with populations under 15,000.

“Certainly MPAC did issue large amounts of new property assessment in 2024,” Lennox stated in an email to the Advertiser.

“I would suggest it was an unprecedented amount.”

With a growth rate of $125 million, Wellington North ranked fourth among smaller municipalities, according to an MPAC news release.

Among municipalities with populations under 15,000, Muskoka Lakes experienced the highest overall growth, totalling $208 million, followed by Blue Mountains at $191 million and Adjala-Tosorontio at $186 million. Gravenhurst ranked fifth with $91 million in growth.

Lennox has been vocal about the need for the province to give credit to small rural municipalities for their contributions to overall growth.

He said Wellington North has been growing rapidly over the past several years, and MPAC was able to recognize more of that growth last year.

“It is helpful to the township to have more of that growth now recognized, helping to demonstrate that many people see Wellington North is a great place to work, play and make a place to call home,” Lennox said.

He added the growth is noticeable in the township’s communities, with newcomers “bringing new perspectives and providing new opportunities both economically and culturally.”

The growth will also likely continue at a pace that exceeds that of previous generations, Lennox said.

“Wellington North has been planning and is continuing to plan to receive this growth and its economic activity all while trying to maintain the strengths of our existing communities,” he said.

Not all of the growth highlighted by MPAC was residential, and not all of the properties were new builds.

The $42.7 billion in new assessment captured in 2024 includes new construction and improvements to existing properties. Residential homes, including condos, accounted for nearly $31 billion of the increase, while commercial and industrial properties contributed more than $5.7 billion, the release stated.

“Our work never stops to keep property assessment records updated and capture the value of ongoing construction and renovation projects throughout the year,” MPAC vice-president of valuation and assessment operations Daniel DeVellis stated in the release.  

According to a fact sheet released by the corporation, nearly 87,000 new homes were assessed last year, with assessed value totalling more than $35 billion, but another 627,000 notices were sent to property owners reflecting changes in assessment.

Of the almost 87,000 new homes constructed in 2024, 48.2 per cent were detached houses, nearly 17% were condominiums, and 13.7% were townhomes.

Predictably, Toronto was the municipality with the highest new assessment at $12.1 billion, followed by Ottawa in a distant second at $2.9 billion.

Wellington North shows up on the fact sheet not only among the top 10 for new assessment among rural municipalities, but also on the top 10 for new assessment in farms.

Mapleton and Centre Wellington are also on this list. Mapleton ranks fourth with $53 million in new farm growth, Wellington North is at sixth with $37 million, and Centre Wellington is 10th at $28 million.

Centre Wellington also shows up again on a top-10 list for new assessment among communities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Its $315 million puts it in sixth place, just ahead of Guelph with $231 million.

Reporter