Quebec real estate glossary · French to English
Évaluation municipale, rôle d'évaluation = Municipal assessment, property assessment roll. It is the property assessment roll, and the value on it is your municipal assessment. It is not the market value of your home.
En bref, en français : L'évaluation municipale se dit municipal assessment, et le rôle d'évaluation property assessment roll. Ce n'est pas la valeur marchande de votre propriété.
The City of Montreal, writing in English, states plainly that the assessment roll "serves as the basis for calculating municipal and school taxes", and that an increase in the value of your property does not automatically produce an equivalent increase in your municipal taxes.
That single sentence clears up the two things people get wrong: what the roll is for, and what it is not.
Assessment is not market value
The roll reflects a reference date set by law, not today's market. A property can be worth clearly more, or clearly less, than the figure on the roll. Buyers who anchor on the assessment when making an offer routinely misjudge by six figures.
The words
- Property assessment roll for rôle d'évaluation foncière.
- Municipal assessment for évaluation municipale.
- Municipal and school taxes for taxes municipales et scolaires.
- Market value for valeur marchande, which is what a broker's evaluation estimates.
Say it in a sentence
The word on its own is rarely the problem. These are the sentences you will actually hear, and what they become in English.
| Vous entendrez | In English |
|---|---|
| L'évaluation municipale est de 540 000 $. | The municipal assessment is $540,000. |
| Le nouveau rôle d'évaluation entre en vigueur. | The new assessment roll comes into effect. |
| J'ai contesté mon évaluation municipale. | I contested my municipal assessment. |
The mistake we see most often
The mistake is negotiating against the roll. Buyers open the assessment, see a number below the asking price, and conclude the seller is greedy. The roll is built on a legal reference date for taxation, not on today's market, and in a rising market it lags badly. Comparable closed sales in the last few months are the only figures that tell you what a property is worth right now.
Where this fits in a Quebec transaction
Buying or selling in Quebec means signing documents that exist in both languages, written under civil law rather than common law. A word-for-word translation is sometimes right and sometimes actively misleading. The full list is in our Quebec real estate glossary, French to English.
Related terms
- municipal versus market value
- get a free home evaluation
- municipal and school taxes in English
- contesting your assessment
Questions we get asked
What is the évaluation municipale in English?
The municipal assessment, the value entered on the property assessment roll. Montreal's English pages use property assessment roll.
Is the assessment the price I should offer?
No. The roll is built for taxation on a legal reference date, not to reflect today's market. Comparable closed sales are the reliable guide.
Does a higher assessment mean higher taxes?
Not automatically. The City of Montreal states that an increase in your property's value does not automatically result in an equivalent increase in municipal taxes.
Published by the Loaa & Manseur team, number one team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025. We work in French and in English. Tell us about your project.