Tofino, Pemberton among communities opting in to B.C.'s new short-term rental restrictions

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The new legislation carries penalties of $500 to $5,000 a day per infraction for hosts and reach as high as $10,000 a day for platforms

Published Apr 18, 2024  •  Last updated 12 hours ago  •  5 minute read

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With less than two weeks before B.C.’s short-term rental restrictions take effect, visitors staying at an Airbnb, Vrbo or other short-term rental homes are told to check with their hosts to make sure they are not staying in illegal accommodations.

Guests should ask hosts if they are compliant with the new rules, said B.C.’s housing minister, even as he reassured guests they won’t be on the hook.

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“The responsibility to comply with the rules fall with the hosts and the short-term rental platforms,” said Ravi Kahlon at a news conference with Premier David Eby in Langley on Thursday. “We encourage people to continue to explore beautiful British Columbia, and stay in legal short-term rental accommodations.”The new regulations set to take effect on May 1 would restrict short-term rentals to principal residences and either a secondary suite or a laneway home/garden suite on the property.

They apply to more than 60 B.C. communities with populations of more than 10,000 people, as well as 17 smaller communities, including Bowen Island, Tofino, Osoyoos, Pemberton, and Gabriola Island, which have decided to opt in. For these communities, the rules will take effect on Nov. 1.

The new legislation carries penalties of $500 to $5,000 a day per infraction for hosts and reach as high as $10,000 a day for platforms.

Eby said the province’s principal residence requirement is meant to crack down on speculators while allowing homeowners to rent out spaces in their principal residences if they choose to do so.

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He acknowledged the restrictions could put some property owners’ investment and retirement plans into disarray, but made no apologies, saying people with money to invest should put their money elsewhere.

“Do not compete with individuals and families who are looking for place to live with your investment dollars,” Eby said, adding the government will “tilt the deck every single time toward that family.”

The government has set up a provincial enforcement unit, currently staffed by four people, to conduct investigations into alleged non-compliant units.

The enforcement will be largely done digitally and includes the use of a short-term rental data portal that’ll help local governments monitor and enforce regulations.

Municipalities with their own short-term rental restrictions can upload non-compliant properties to the portal, said Kahlon. Platforms will have five days to verify whether the units are on their sites. Local governments without short-term rental licensing can report properties they believe are not compliant.

The platforms will be required to remove non-compliant listings at the request of local or the provincial governments and provide the province with a monthly update of short-term listings on their sites, said Kahlon.

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Companies such as Expedia and Booking.com are working to get ready for the new rules, and he’s hopeful other platforms will follow suit by May 1.

Airbnb said it has been in discussions with the provincial government for months and plans to comply with the new rules, but predicts they will harm the province’s tourism sector by taking extra income away from residents and limiting accommodation options for people, while doing little to improve the housing crunch for residents.

“They’re doing this because they say there’s going to be an impact on housing, that this will free up more housing for people,” said Nathan Rotman, Airbnb’s policy lead in Canada. “That is just not true.”

Despite several years of Airbnb restrictions in Vancouver, for example, rents have gone up while vacancies stayed low, he said.

Kahlon said the pending rules are already having a positive impact on housing availability with short-term rentals being converted to long-term use or being put up for sale.

In March, more than 19,000 entire homes in B.C. were listed as short-term rentals for most of the year, said the province. Even if half of those units are returned to the long-term market, that’ll make a “substantial difference” in communities, said Kahlon.

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Eby said there has been a “massive upswing” in hotel construction in key tourist areas as an unintended result of the new policies.

Bowen Island, a small community of 4,200 whose council voted in March to opt into the province’s short-term rental regulations, has seen increased pressure from tourists and housing demand in recent years.

The decision was council’s way “to balance what is appropriate use in residentially-zoned neighbourhoods while still allowing property owners to still do what they want with their properties,” said Mayor Andrew Leonard.

The principal residence requirement still allows for Airbnb and other short-term rentals on the island, he pointed out. “The vast majority of short-term rental operations are unaffected. This just keeps it in the homes of homeowners instead of speculators.”

Some communities, including Parksville’s Resort Drive area, were granted an exemption last month under the province’s exemption for strata hotel or motels. The area was purpose-built as tourism accommodation more than two decades ago.

The new legislation is being challenged in B.C. Supreme Court by Victoria-based groups and the Westcoast Association for Property Rights, who are calling for a review of the new rules and compensation for financial losses.

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According to Airbnb, Airbnb bookings and related spending generated around $2.5 billion in B.C. in 2023 and created 25,000 jobs.

The company says that for every $100 spent on an Airbnb booking, guests also spent about $229 on other travel spending.

More than three quarters of hosts polled by the company say they use their Airbnb earnings to cover rising costs of living, especially housing.

chchan@postmedia.com

x.com/cherylchan

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