For a commercial, industrial or multi-residential property, filing a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) with MPAC is optional, not a required first step. You can go straight to the Assessment Review Board instead. Here is what actually differs between the two routes, so you can pick the one that fits your file.
The rule for business properties
Only residential, farm and managed forest properties must file an RfR before they can appeal to the Board. Commercial, industrial, multi-residential and other non-residential properties can do either: ask MPAC to reconsider, or appeal directly (MPAC, Request for Reconsideration and Appeals). Both routes exist to catch the same March 31 deadline for the annual assessment. The choice is which body looks at your file first, MPAC or an independent tribunal.
| Request for Reconsideration | Appeal to the Board | |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline | March 31 for the annual assessment, or 120 days from a change, amended, supplementary or omitted notice | Same as an RfR, or 90 days after MPAC mails an RfR decision you disagree with |
| Who decides | MPAC reviews its own assessment | The Assessment Review Board, an independent tribunal of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General |
| Cost | Free to file | $318 per roll number for a business property, $10 less if e-filed |
| When it makes sense | A straightforward correction, a data error, or wanting MPAC’s reasoning on record first | A substantial dispute, an independent decision-maker from the outset, or limited time before a deadline |
Deadline
Both routes are tied to the same calendar. File an RfR or a direct appeal by March 31 for the current year’s annual assessment, or within 120 days of a change, amended, supplementary or omitted notice. MPAC aims to respond to an RfR within 180 days of receiving it. If you disagree with that decision, you then have 90 days from the date MPAC mails it to appeal to the Board (Tribunals Ontario, filing an appeal).
Who decides
An RfR is reviewed and decided by MPAC itself, the body that set the assessment in the first place. An appeal goes to the Assessment Review Board, an independent tribunal separate from MPAC (Tribunals Ontario). The Board can hold a hearing and issue a decision on the file; MPAC’s RfR decision is not the last word, since you can still appeal it afterward.
Cost
An RfR is free to file (MPAC, Request for Reconsideration and Appeals). An appeal to the Board costs $318 per roll number for a business property, $10 less if you e-file (Tribunals Ontario). Professional fees for building and arguing a case are separate from either filing cost. See fees.
When it makes sense
An RfR can make sense for a straightforward correction, a data error in MPAC’s records, or when you want MPAC’s own reasoning on file before deciding whether to appeal, without giving up the right to go to the Board afterward. A direct appeal makes sense when the issue is more substantial, for example a dispute over how MPAC applied the income approach, when you want an independent decision-maker from the outset, or when the RfR timeline would leave too little runway before a deadline. How MPAC values income properties covers the kind of dispute that often heads straight to the Board.
Why the choice matters
Picking a route is not just paperwork. An RfR keeps the file inside MPAC, informally, at no cost, with MPAC’s own staff reviewing the number they set. A direct appeal puts the file in front of an independent tribunal from day one, with a fee attached, disclosure obligations, and a process built around evidence rather than an internal review. Neither route is automatically better: the right one depends on what the dispute actually is and how much time is left before a deadline.
Two examples
These are illustrations, not real files. Say one property’s assessment reflects more building area than actually exists, a factual error in MPAC’s records. That kind of issue is often a good fit for an RfR: the correction is objective, and MPAC can fix it without a hearing. Now say a second property’s dispute is about which comparable sales, or which capitalization rate, should have been used. That is a judgment call, and an independent tribunal weighing evidence from both sides is often better placed to decide it than the body that made the original call, which points toward a direct appeal to the Board.
Different properties, different routes
Nothing requires you to pick one route for every roll number you own. An owner with several properties can file a Request for Reconsideration on one where the issue looks like a simple correction, and appeal another straight to the Board where the numbers are genuinely contested. Each roll number carries its own deadline, its own filing, and its own decision, so a portfolio review often ends with a different route recommended for different buildings. See portfolio reviews.
What happens after you choose
An RfR that MPAC does not resolve to your satisfaction is not a dead end: you still have 90 days from its decision to appeal to the Board. A direct appeal moves straight into the Board’s own process, from acknowledgement through disclosure to a settlement or a hearing. How an assessment appeal works covers that process stage by stage, whichever route brought you there.
Whichever route fits, the deadline matters most. See key dates for the date that applies to your notice, or our Request for Reconsideration service and our assessment appeals service for how BrookLex handles each. If you are not sure which fits your property, contact us.