The new regulations were approved by Council on December 5^th, 2016 and came into effect on January 1^st, 2017, with amendments adopted on September 4th, 2018. The regulations include:

• Three types of STR licences – guest homes, guest rooms, and guest suites (secondary or detached secondary suites)
  • Guest Home licences: the property may only be advertised as available for rent for up to 182 days per year, unless there is a second dwelling unit on the same property (such as a secondary suite).
  • Laneway houses built since June 11th, 2018 are not eligible to be used as a short-term rental.
• Three lengths of STR licences – annual, four-month, and 31 consecutive days
• There is a cap of 110 annual licences and 40 four-month licences;
  • there is no cap on 31-day licences, however there can only be two per property per year
• Maximum of three licences per block – no cap on 31-day licences
• The property must be the applicant’s principal residence.
• Each property can have up to one annual licence and another licence of less than 6 months (4-month or 31-day licence)
• Parking requirements must be met (see application form for details)
• Short-term rental licences are non-transferable
• All licences require a building and fire inspection every three years
• Maximum of 2 adult guests per guest room, 4 per guest suite, and 6 per guest house
• Each property must have a contact person who can respond within 15 minutes to phone calls and lives within 30 km of the property
• STR operators need to apply by December 15th each year to ensure that they maintain their spot in the queue for the next year. After December 15th, applicants will be subject to the caps.

Please read through the application form for more information. To read deeper into the short-term rental regulations, please refer to the Business Licence Regulatory Bylaw, the Zoning Bylaw, and the Fees & Charges Bylaw.