Should Ottawa remove the Vacant Unit Tax? Mayoral candidate Alex Lawson says, if elected this Fall, he will scrap it. It was implemented back in 2022 – an annual 1 percent tax on residential properties that are left vacant. City Council brought it in as a way to address Ottawa’s housing shortage, but the reception has been mixed at times. And in December of 2025, the municipality said just over 16,000 previously vacant units had been returned to the market between 2022 and 2023. Lawson joins Kristy Cameron on today’s Ottawa Now.