In May 2023, during BC Assessment’s transition away from the long-running ValueBC system and into IAS World software supported by Tyler Technologies, I received a phone call from someone working inside BC Assessment. According to the whistleblower, ...
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The BC Assessment Whistleblower Files are what a person inside BC Assessment told me in May 2023, checked against what the record shows now.
What did the BC Assessment whistleblower say?
In May 2023, while BC Assessment was switching to a new computer system, a person inside it told me how values are set. The software is used to bring the whole roll close to a 97% target, and homes in between are not looked at one by one.1 In my view, that means some values will be wrong, and the appeal system is there if a homeowner knows how to catch them.
3 years later, my Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026 checked every single family home sold on Vancouver Island in 2025. BC Assessment's value matched the sale price on 63 of 7,079.2 The telephone call is in the posts below, so you can hear it for yourself.
What the news reported
6 months after the call, I started a YouTube channel. BC Assessment's media monitoring caught the story.
Lake Cowichan Gazette, November 10, 2023
Youbou realtor takes to YouTube to educate about property assessments
"I'm an expert on the BCA appeals process and my goal with this channel is to present you with factual information that will, hopefully, inspire you to take action."
Jason Anson, quoted in the Lake Cowichan Gazette, November 10, 2023.3
The whistleblower later sent me a screenshot of BC Assessment's media monitoring software, open to this story.4 Every story about these appeals, and everywhere it ran, is on News Features.
What BC Assessment said
When I sent the transcript to the Appeal Board, BC Assessment's Assessor told her team not to comment.
"Attached is the transcript I referred to in my last note, this is from the agent for the Youbou appeals... I have advised my team not to comment or distribute this further."
BC Assessment's Assessor, Vancouver Island, in an internal email, May 11, 2023. Released to me under freedom of information.5
The transcript went to the Appeal Board the same day. In my view, telling staff not to comment is not the same as answering what was said. The record that came later, including my audits, is how anyone can check it.
What the BC Assessment whistleblower said
In his words: which sales staff were told to look at.
"We are only instructed to look at the sales that fall above or below the 25% away from the 97%."
The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call, May 2023.1
Everything between those lines, by his account, was not looked at one by one. My Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026 looked at every home sold on Vancouver Island in 2025: 4,211 were assessed below what they sold for, 59%, and 2,805 above, 40%.2
A note on the record
The whistleblower spoke in 2023, under the previous government. What he described is offered to the new government to check.
What a new government could do: Make it safe for staff to raise concerns, and check whether the sales outside the review range are actually being looked at.
Sources
- The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call with me, May 2023; transcript sent to the Property Assessment Appeal Board on May 11, 2023, and released in Ministry of Finance FOI file FIN-2025-52395.
- My Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026: 7,079 arm's length single family sales in 2025 compared with their 2026 assessed values, across 7 regional districts and 73 tax jurisdictions.
- Cowichan Valley Citizen, Robert Barron, "Youbou realtor takes to YouTube to educate about property assessments," November 10, 2023; as republished by the Lake Cowichan Gazette; a copy is held in Ministry of Finance FOI file FIN-2025-52395, page 913. Read the article
- Screenshot sent to me by the BC Assessment whistleblower.
- BC Assessment, FOI file 2025-10, page 227: email from the Assessor, Vancouver Island, May 11, 2023.
Blog Posts
In the whistleblower's words
"We are only instructed to look at the sales that fall above or below the 25% away from the 97%."
"we use our software to trend the assessment to sale ratio to get close to 97%."
The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call, May 2023.1
An average close to 97% can hide a home assessed far below its sale price next to one assessed far above it. Both pay the same tax rate. In Nanoose Bay, the 2026 audit found values running from 69.6% to 131.0% of the sale price.2 BC Assessment says the roll meets international standards.3 Those standards look at the average, not your home.
Then and now
What was said in 2023, and what the record shows
What the whistleblower said
What the record shows now
The software trends the roll toward a 97% assessment to sale ratio.
BC Assessment's Deputy Assessor told a newspaper in July 2026 that Sidney is "well within the international standards for accuracy and uniformity."3 The same year, 63 of 7,079 Vancouver Island homes were assessed at their sale price.2
Staff only look at sales more than 25% away from the target.
4,211 homes were assessed below what they sold for and 2,805 above. A home that misses by less than 25% can still cost its owner hundreds of dollars or more every year.2
A screenshot of BC Assessment's media monitoring software, open to a news story about me starting my YouTube channel.4
In November 2023, after one of my videos, BC Assessment's CEO decided Communications "will continue to monitor the situation."5 The Ministry of Finance's Review Panel Administrator told BC Assessment my new series had "just over 200 views."6
What this means for you: the system is built to get the average right, not your home. If your value is off, you are the one who has to catch it. More of the evidence is on The Research, and the full audit is on the Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026.
The software aims for the average. Is your home one of the misses?
Start with your address and see how your BC Assessment compares to what homes like yours actually sold for.
Check My PropertySources
- The BC Assessment whistleblower, recorded telephone call, May 2023; BC Assessment, FOI file 2025-10, pages 227 to 228 (May 11, 2023).
- My Vancouver Island Tax Roll Audit 2026: 7,079 arm's length single family sales in 2025 compared with their 2026 assessed values, across 7 regional districts and 73 tax jurisdictions.
- Peninsula News Review and Victoria News, Bailey Seymour, July 21, 2026, "Sidney assessment appeal raises concerns around BC Assessment process," quoting BC Assessment's Deputy Assessor for Vancouver Island.
- Screenshot sent to me by the BC Assessment whistleblower.
- BC Assessment, FOI file 2025-10, pages 434 to 436: email from BC Assessment Communications, November 14, 2023.
- Ministry of Finance, FOI file FIN-2025-52395, pages 912 to 913: email from the Review Panel Administrator to BC Assessment and government communications, November 15, 2023.
My Record: January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026
$22.6M+
cut from the values BC Assessment put on homeowners' properties
My 3 largest reductions for a homeowner: $2,063,000, $1,954,000 and $1,438,000
$110K+
in estimated property tax refunds and credits for homeowners
My 3 largest estimated refunds or credits for a homeowner: $10,315, $9,770 and $7,190
40
homeowners I helped appeal their BC Assessment
100% won a reduction. The average homeowner had approximately $566,000 taken off their value and an estimated $2,800 back in property tax.
63
appeals won, out of the 65 those homeowners took to a decision
97% won, at BC Assessment, the Review Panel and the Appeal Board
91%
of written Appeal Board decisions, made by an independent adjudicator, lowered the value
30 of the 33 that went that far
7,079
Vancouver Island home sales I checked against their BC Assessment
Less than 1% were assessed at what they sold for, and 40% were assessed above it
32
news stories about the appeals I helped with
Run more than 400 times in 68 news outlets across BC
23
freedom of information requests to BC Assessment for its records
$11,047.06 in fees BC Assessment estimated to release them. I paid $30 in total, after fee waiver requests on public interest and hardship grounds.
Are You Overassessed?
When BC Assessment gets your home's value wrong, I prove what it is actually worth using real sales of similar homes, so you don't pay more property tax than your fair share.
Jason Anson
I am not a lawyer or an appraiser, and nothing on this site should be considered legal or tax advice. When I help you, you are still the appellant and you file your own appeal. Every result depends on the evidence for that property, and the decision belongs to the Property Assessment Review Panel or the Property Assessment Appeal Board, not to me. My past results do not predict yours, and I cannot guarantee any outcome.
Helping homeowners with property assessment appeals is not a licensed activity in the province of British Columbia. It is not regulated by the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) or the Real Estate Services Act, and it is not considered a real estate service.
I am also a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty. That work gives me my experience in valuation and market movement, which is the evidence of market value the Review Panel and the Appeal Board weigh. This site and my appeal work are completely separate from eXp Realty. They are not affiliated with, endorsed by or provided through my brokerage, and the views here are my own, not eXp Realty's.
What I write about BC Assessment, the Property Assessment Review Panel, the Property Assessment Appeal Board, the Minister and Ministry of Finance, and the other public offices on this site is my own opinion, and I consider it fair comment on a matter of public interest. My opinions are my honest views, marked as my view, and based on facts anyone can check: Appeal Board decisions, public records and records released under freedom of information. Quotes from documents and news stories are the words of the people quoted. If anything here is inaccurate, let me know and I will correct it.