In 2022, Municipal Council approved an amendment to the business licensing by-law to regulate short term accommodations.
For the 2023 licence year, 55 short term accommodation applications were received and 31 licences have been issued.
A total of 366 unlicensed premises offering short term accommodations have been identified and issued notices of contraventions by Municipal Compliance Services. Of these, 89 require a licence. A total of 277 premises do not appear to be the principal residence of the property owner and must cease operating as a short term accommodation.
Short term accommodations are required to be licenced and are restricted within a persons principle residence. An entire home, or individual rooms, within a persons principle residence can be used as a short term accommodation.
“Council enacted this by-law amendment following a full public participation process,” said Orest Katolyk, Director of Municipal Compliance.” The purpose of the amendment is to protect the health and safety of persons using these accommodations, to ensure these accommodations do not create neighbourhood nuisances, and to protect the residential amenity, character and stability of residential communities.”
A short term accommodation means a temporary accommodation in all of part of a dwelling for short period (29 days or less) in exchange for a payment. These premisses are primarily advertised by brokers on internet platforms. Brokers must also be licensed, and must post individual premise licence numbers for each listing on their platform.
Penalties for operating in violation of the by-law regulations are $500, and may be doubled for repeat offences.
For the purposes of fairness and the principles of independent investigation and because the contents of investigations are subject to Provincial privacy legislation, information regarding individual files cannot be provided.