Advocates urge provinces to follow Quebec’s lead in crackdown on illegal Airbnbs

More provinces ought to comply with Quebec’s lead in looking for to carry short-term rental platforms reminiscent of Airbnb accountable for uncertified listings, advocates say.

The Quebec authorities tabled a invoice final Tuesday that will require short-term rental corporations to make sure their on-line listings are licensed by the province.

If handed, such corporations would face fines of as much as $100,000 for every unlawful rental itemizing.

The proposed guidelines would mark a primary for a Canadian jurisdiction, stated David Wachsmuth, the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance at McGill University, noting Quebec and a few cities throughout the nation have beforehand solely focused hosts with unregistered listings.

He stated Quebec already had “the best provincial approach to short-term rentals” by its registration system however the issue was that many Airbnb hosts have been nonetheless skirting these necessities.

“The thing that was missing from Quebec’s approach was something that was going to actually make people follow the rules,” stated Wachsmuth.

“The new law puts an onus on Airbnb to actually receive the permit itself from the host. I think that really changes the game in terms of how likely it is that people are going to follow these rules.”

Quebec’s invoice would make it unlawful for anybody to promote a short-term rental on-line with out together with the quantity and expiry date for his or her provincial certificates. It got here in response to calls from cities for limits on the variety of Airbnb-style leases, which have eliminated flats from the long-term rental market and exacerbated housing shortages.

In March, seven folks died in a fireplace in an Old Montreal heritage constructing that had been housing unlawful short-term leases on Airbnb. The firm later stated it could voluntarily take away all uncertified listings in Quebec from its on-line platform and require all new listings to have certificates numbers.

Cities reminiscent of Vancouver and Toronto have obligatory registration techniques in place for short-term leases, however Wachsmuth stated that neither framework requires the platform to take the extra step of proactively validating a list’s allow quantity.

Thorben Wieditz of Fairbnb, a coalition of teams from the regulated resort and B&B trade, stated extra provinces ought to comply with Quebec’s lead.

“There are some cities that have a similar setup, but the provincewide approach is superior because a lot of municipalities and townships don’t have the financial resources to actually set up a registry themselves and do the enforcement,” stated Wieditz.

“The province basically levelled the playing field for all the communities in Quebec and I think we will see the same thing happening in British Columbia, where the province is working on a similar approach.”

The B.C. authorities has indicated a need to tighten up guidelines for Airbnb listings.

Last December, Premier David Eby tasked newly appointed Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon in his mandate letter with introducing “legislation establishing new tools for local governments to help them better regulate short term rentals in their communities.”

That would come as welcome news to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), which has been calling for higher regulation of short-term leases within the province for 5 years, stated its president Jen Ford.

“It’s really expensive and difficult for local governments, especially in small communities or in rural communities, to manage regulating these short-term accommodations,” stated Ford, a Whistler councillor.

“The urgency has been there for a long time.”

Two years in the past, the UBCM produced a report analyzing the impacts of short-term leases on native communities. It highlighted that the Municipal and Regional District Tax, a provincial levy on short-term lodging reminiscent of inns, has not been pretty utilized to “a changing accommodation sector.”

“It eats into long-term housing accommodations for renters, for people looking to to live long-term in a community, and we are in a housing crisis,” stated Ford.

“There’s no question that every bed, every housing unit is needed. We just can’t build at the pace that we need to solve the housing crisis.”

As the B.C. authorities mulls its coverage strategy, Wieditz stated he hopes Quebec’s proposal can present the western province “that without the enforcement teeth and stiff fines for platforms themselves, any sort of provincial approach is also meaningless.”

Wachsmuth stated different provinces ought to take word too.

“Provinces are aware of the question and have been investigating what the proper provincial role is, but the truth of the matter is that in general, across Canada, provinces have been very happy to leave cities to handle these types of issues,” he stated.

“I don’t think it’s rocket science that there’s a good provincial role here, just from an efficiency perspective, to get everybody on the same page.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed May 15, 2023.