Latest news with #shorttermrentals
CTV News
11 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Despite pushback, Montreal forges ahead with strict new short-term rental rules
Fog hangs over the skyline of Montreal on Jan. 1, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes.) Montreal is forging ahead with new rules banning many short-term rentals for nine months a year, hoping to alleviate a housing crunch and strike a blow in a lengthy battle against unauthorized listings. City council in March passed a new bylaw that will allow people to rent their principal residences for periods of 31 days or less only during peak tourist season, between June 10 and Sept. 10. They must also obtain a $300 permit from the city and meet previous requirements to register with the province. Full-time Airbnb units run by commercial enterprises are still allowed in parts of the city, but are restricted to a few streets and areas. Despina Sourias, a city councillor in charge of housing, said previous rules were hard to enforce because they allowed some property owners to avoid getting fined by stating a rental property was their main residence. The new rules, she said, will shift the burden of proof onto listing owners instead of inspectors. 'Before it was like, we have to go out and catch people, we've got to roam the streets,' she said in a phone interview. Banning short-term rentals in principal residences for nine months a year makes issuing fines much easier, Sourias said. 'You don't have your permit, you get a ticket,' she said. 'If you're doing it outside the time that you're allowed to do it, you get a ticket.' The new rules are the next step in a progressive crackdown across the province that began after seven people died in a fire in an Old Montreal building in March 2023. Six of the victims had been staying in Airbnb rentals, which the mayor confirmed were not allowed in that part of the city. After the fire, the provincial government tabled new legislation requiring platforms like Airbnb to only display ads that include a tourism licence number and expiry date. The city also hired a squad of inspectors to try to crack down. Before the new bylaw, it was easier for people to rent their main residences for short periods, such as during a vacation. That led some people to use different schemes to falsely declare a full-time rental as a principal residence, forcing inspectors into lengthy investigations to prove otherwise, the city said. Montreal's mayor said in January that despite the provincial law, more than half of the 4,000 units on short-term rental platforms did not comply with the rules. The new rules have received pushback from the province's tourism department, as well as from platforms such as Airbnb, which claim that they will hurt the city's economy and do little to improve housing affordability. Alex Howell, Airbnb's policy lead from Canada, called on the city to reverse what she called an 'extreme and short-sighted' rule change. 'This poorly thought-out decision will drive up hotel prices and make travel more expensive for Quebecers – nearly 140,000 of whom stayed in an Airbnb in Montreal last year – and weaken Montreal's ability to attract visitors for major events that fuel tourism throughout the year,' she said in a statement. Saif Yousif, a property manager for Park Place Properties, believes the new rules are overly restrictive. Yousif manages about 80 short-term rentals in the Montreal and Mont-Tremblant areas, including many owned by clients who want to rent their homes when they're travelling. Yousif feels the existing rules were already strict enough to prevent people from falsely claiming an investment property as a principal residence. The regulation, he said, 'makes it difficult for (homeowners) to take vacations or take some time off and leave the city' and is unlikely to result in units being returned to the long-term rental pool. The best way to keep rental prices down would be to build more housing, he added. Likewise, the province's tourism department said the new rules would not put an end to illegal rentals or the housing crisis. 'On the contrary, they could even worsen the situation by pushing more operators into illegality, returning Montreal to the Wild Web of before our reforms,' it said in a statement to The Canadian Press. But David Wachsmuth, the Canada Research Chair in urban governance at McGill University, believes Montreal may succeed where other cities have failed at cracking down on illegal rentals. He said platforms leave it up to cities to track down rule-breakers, which forces municipal officials to 'play detective' and figure out who's actually a principal resident and who isn't. He said enforcement will be easier under these rules, because anyone running an Airbnb outside the designated full-time rental areas can be automatically fined outside the summer season. 'Anybody who's running an Airbnb in March, if you're not on one of those very small number of corridors where you're allowed to do this (legally), it's just guaranteed that you're breaking the law,' he said. 'So that's just a really fundamental shift in how the overall process of being a short-term rental host is going to interact with the laws here in Montreal.' He said that most Montrealers who want to rent out their principal residence would likely do so mostly in the summer anyway. Therefore, the rules will only inconvenience legitimate home sharers while making it much harder for full-time unauthorized rentals to turn a profit. Wachsmuth also dismisses any claims that limiting short-term rentals won't help alleviate housing pressures, saying the research shows 'beyond any possible shred of a doubt' that communities that put short-term rental rules in place see their rents rise less slowly than those who don't. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Montreal pushes on with new short-term rental rules despite pushback
Montreal is forging ahead with new rules banning many short-term rentals for nine months a year, hoping to alleviate a housing crunch and strike a blow in a lengthy battle against unauthorized listings. City council in March passed a new bylaw that will allow people to rent their principal residences for periods of 31 days or less only during peak tourist season, between June 10 and Sept. 10. They must also obtain a $300 permit from the city and meet previous requirements to register with the province. Full-time Airbnb units run by commercial enterprises are still allowed in parts of the city, but are restricted to a few streets and areas. Two years after fatal fire, Montreal tightens rules on short-term rentals including Airbnb Despina Sourias, a city councillor in charge of housing, said previous rules were hard to enforce because they allowed some property owners to avoid getting fined by stating a rental property was their main residence. The new rules, she said, will shift the burden of proof onto listing owners instead of inspectors. 'Before it was like, we have to go out and catch people, we've got to roam the streets,' she said in a phone interview. Banning short-term rentals in principal residences for nine months a year makes issuing fines much easier, Sourias said. 'You don't have your permit, you get a ticket,' she said. 'If you're doing it outside the time that you're allowed to do it, you get a ticket.' The new rules are the next step in a progressive crackdown across the province that began after seven people died in a fire in an Old Montreal building in March 2023. Six of the victims had been staying in Airbnb rentals, which the mayor confirmed were not allowed in that part of the city. After the fire, the provincial government tabled new legislation requiring platforms like Airbnb to only display ads that include a tourism licence number and expiry date. The city also hired a squad of inspectors to try to crack down. Before the new bylaw, it was easier for people to rent their main residences for short periods, such as during a vacation. That led some people to use different schemes to falsely declare a full-time rental as a principal residence, and forcing inspectors into lengthy investigations to prove otherwise, the city said. Montreal's mayor said in January that despite the provincial law, more than half of the 4,000 units on short-term rental platforms did not comply with the rules. The new rules have received pushback from the province's tourism department, as well as from platforms such as Airbnb, who claim that they will hurt the city's economy and do little to improve housing affordability. Alex Howell, Airbnb's policy lead from Canada, called on the city to reverse what she called an 'extreme and short-sighted' rule change. 'This poorly thought-out decision will drive up hotel prices and make travel more expensive for Quebecers – nearly 140,000 of whom stayed in an Airbnb in Montreal last year – and weakens Montreal's ability to attract visitors for major events that fuel tourism throughout the year,' she said in a statement. The province's tourism department said the new rules would not put an end illegal rentals or the housing crisis. 'On the contrary, they could even worsen the situation by pushing more operators into illegality, returning Montreal to the Wild Web of before our reforms,' it said in a statement to The Canadian Press. But David Wachsmuth, the Canada Research Chair in urban governance at McGill University, believes Montreal may succeed where other cities have failed at cracking down on illegal rentals. He said platforms leave it up to cities to track down rule-breakers, which forces municipal officials to 'play detective' and figure out who's actually a principal resident and who isn't. He said enforcement will be easier under these rules, because anyone running an Airbnb outside the designated full-time rental areas can be automatically fined outside the summer season.
National Post
a day ago
- Business
- National Post
Montreal's new short-term rental ban aims to curb housing crunch, boost enforcement power
Article content Montreal is forging ahead with new rules banning many short-term rentals for nine months a year, hoping to alleviate a housing crunch and strike a blow in a lengthy battle against unauthorized listings. Article content Article content City council in March passed a new bylaw that will allow people to rent their principal residences for periods of 31 days or less only during peak tourist season, between June 10 and Sept. 10. They must also obtain a $300 permit from the city and meet previous requirements to register with the province. Article content Article content Full-time Airbnb units run by commercial enterprises are still allowed in parts of the city, but are restricted to a few streets and areas. Article content Article content Despina Sourias, a city councillor in charge of housing, said previous rules were hard to enforce because they allowed some property owners to avoid getting fined by stating a rental property was their main residence. Article content 'Before it was like, we have to go out and catch people, we've got to roam the streets,' she said in a phone interview. Article content Banning short-term rentals in principal residences for nine months a year makes issuing fines much easier, Sourias said. 'You don't have your permit, you get a ticket,' she said. 'If you're doing it outside the time that you're allowed to do it, you get a ticket.' Article content The new rules are the next step in a progressive crackdown across the province that began after seven people died in a fire in an Old Montreal building in March 2023. Six of the victims had been staying in Airbnb rentals, which the mayor confirmed were not allowed in that part of the city. Article content Article content Article content After the fire, the provincial government tabled new legislation requiring platforms like Airbnb to only display ads that include a tourism licence number and expiry date. The city also hired a squad of inspectors to try to crack down. Article content Article content Before the new bylaw, it was easier for people to rent their main residences for short periods, such as during a vacation. Article content That led some people to use different schemes to falsely declare a full-time rental as a principal residence, and forcing inspectors into lengthy investigations to prove otherwise, the city said. Article content Montreal's mayor said in January that despite the provincial law, more than half of the 4,000 units on short-term rental platforms did not comply with the rules.
CBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CBC
N.S. commits to fix for municipalities waiting on marketing levies from booking platforms
The provincial government has promised to find a solution for Nova Scotia municipalities struggling to have booking platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo collect and remit the fees they are legally owed. Many cities, towns or districts in Nova Scotia have, or are exploring, marketing levies to bring in funds for tourism projects or events. The levies can be up to three per cent of an accommodation price, and apply to short stays at places like hotels, or rentals in homes or cottages. Since April 2024, online platforms have been required under provincial law to collect the levies from guests and send them to the local municipality. But so far, that has proved to be easier said than done. "It's been a lot of legwork on our end to find these folks, to establish a relationship, to work through the documentation," said Donna Hatt, economic development officer for the Town of Bridgewater on the South Shore. "Some of them aren't even in Canada. We're working with head offices for companies like that are overseas … so it's been a bit more complicated." Bridgewater's levy came into force on April 1, and Hatt said about 15 short-term rental properties fall under the bylaw, with many using online platforms for bookings. Hatt said most of the platforms have been co-operative, but made it clear they don't want to deal individually with dozens of municipalities, who all have their own rules and regulations. She said they have warned her "it may be a little bit longer" before they start sending levies to Bridgewater. CBC reached out to Airbnb, Vrbo and but did not receive a response. Carolyn Penny, senior financial consultant for the Halifax Regional Municipality, said they are an outlier — likely because they make up the largest segment of rentals in the province. The online platforms have been sending monthly wire transfers of the levies to Halifax, which has more than 1,000 listings on Airbnb alone. "I've actually had a few emails from municipalities wanting to know 'how did you make Airbnb remit to you?'" Penny said. Staff said Halifax received $10 million in marketing levies from all the operators the levy applies to from May 2024 to this May, with about $750,000 coming through platforms like Airbnb. Penny said she understands the administrative burden of dealing with smaller municipalities would be difficult for major companies, especially when some districts might only have a few listings with monthly levies adding up to just a few dollars. Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr told municipal leaders at a conference in early May that the province was aware local governments were "facing challenges" securing agreements with booking platforms, and will step in. He said they will find a third party to serve as a single point of access between municipalities and the platforms. Provincial spokesperson Geoff Tobin said they are in the "early stages" of finding that third party, and the government has not committed to a timeline. The District of Chester's senior economic development officer, Brian Webb, said getting that solution in place before the 2026 summer season would be ideal. Their new levy kicks in Jan. 1, 2026. The district, which includes the scenic waterfront Village of Chester, has a high number of short-term rentals with 227 properties providing hundreds of bedrooms. Another 10 properties would be commercial businesses like hotels or resorts. Webb said they had expected to make about $200,000 from the levy in its first year, because staff planned for "low levels of compliance" from online platforms. But with a provincial portal, he said they could get full compliance and bring in more than double that amount. "It would allow us to achieve better results, to develop our tourism sector and much quicker, were this to be done at a provincial level for sure," Webb said. Staff from multiple municipalities said having a third party handle the levies should mean that group also audits the funds. Right now, this takes a large amount of staff time in places like Halifax, or isn't being done at all in other areas where they don't have the time or expertise. "We really are kind of blind to making sure that everybody is fully compliant … so having [the province] take ownership of this process alleviates some of that duplication of effort to make sure that everybody is remitting correctly," said Kelsey Hicks, finance manager for Bridgewater. Both Chester and Bridgewater will develop a plan with local businesses and tourism organizations for how to spend their levy funds.
Hospitality Net
6 days ago
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Why is Airbnb losing the war of STR dominance to Booking..com?
Last year, delivered 400.4 million nights booked at short-term rentals (STRs), which was 80% of Airbnb's total nights. At the same time, generates almost twice as many nights per listing on its platform as Airbnb. Growth rates for a number of STR listings on the platform were 17% vs only 4% for Airbnb. Is overtaking the leadership of Airbnb in the STR sector? As the short-term rental (STR) market is maturing, Airbnb's first-mover advantage is disappearing fast. Airbnb, with all of its pretenses for innovation, uniqueness and market leadership, is falling behind and the the OTAs as a whole in adopting proven best practices in online travel and in its core business - the STRs. One of these best practices in online travel is having a loyalty program. What do all major OTAs, local activities OTAs like Viator and GetYourGuide, all airlines, car rental companies, cruise lines, hotel chains, etc. have in common? All of them have loyalty programs. A loyalty program reaffirms the perceived value proposition of your brand and nourishes the travel consumer's emotional attachment to your brand. Loyalty program means repeat business. Repeat business means cheap direct business. The loyalty programs have become the main assets of all major travel and retail players. They provide not only huge benefits like repeat business and invaluable first-party data insights to these companies. In return their shower loyalty members with perks, benefits and discounts thus bringing them back again and again. I think it's pure arrogance on behalf of Airbnb not to have a loyalty program. Airbnb has to extract more revenue from its existing customer base, has to deliver more roomnights to its existing hosts, and can no longer rely on new inventory, post-pandemic revenge travel and established name in the marketplace. We have all heard the company's talking points: Airbnb is so mainstream that it's 'a noun and a verb.' Well, so were the claims of another company called Xerox. I believe the lack of a loyalty program is Airbnb's Achilles heel. Instead of failed initiatives and meandering corporate strategies, like poorly-executed experiences, 'back to the basics' shared rooms, etc. Airbnb needs a Loyalty Program similar to Expedia One Key and Booking's Genius to have a fighting chance against these OTAs. Both Expedia's Vrbo and programs now boast 220 million members each and offer rewards, discounts, and perks for booking many of the same STR properties you can find on Airbnb or other STR platforms. Just imagine if you are an Airbnb customer: You are rewarded with points, discounts or perks when booking the same STR property on or vrbo, but get nothing on Airbnb. In the same time, travelers who stay at short-term rentals do not come from Mars. PhocusWright reported that 45% of STR users compare rentals with hotels. These same travelers would stay at a hotel for business travel or shorter leisure stays, and would rent an Airbnb for a family reunion or extended stay. There is a real 'booking war' going on between hotels and Airbnb. So, Airbnb's main competitors are not only and Expedia's vrbo but also all major hotel chains, boutiques, and luxury hotel brands, all of which have loyalty or reward programs. For example, Marriott's loyalty program Bonvoy grew 16% in 2024, reaching 228 million, generating 73% of US room nights booked and 66% of roomnights globally. Marriott's Homes & Villas program offers over 140,000 curated homes and villas globally and is direct competitors to Airbnb's core business. Hilton also reported that their guest loyalty program Hilton Honors has reached 211 million members in 2024, a 17% increase from the previous year. Here is another example of another one of Airbnb's strategic misses: Sponsored Listings: Currently Airbnb does not offer sponsored listings where hosts can pay to have their properties appear higher in search results. Instead, Airbnb's ranking system relies on factors like guest reviews, host history, and perceived value of the listing. With hundreds of listings in the main STR markets, how can your STR property differentiate itself from the rest? Sponsored listings, of course! The Yellow Pages invented sponsored listings nearly 150 years ago. Yahoo introduced sponsored listings in the online world 30 years ago. Google did it 24 years ago. Expedia's Travel Ads were established 17 years ago. did this more recently. It's a no-brainer! Why doesn't Airbnb offer sponsored listings? The answer is, once again, pure arrogance and lack of recognition of online travel's best practices. Unlike Airbnb, has a robust loyalty program and flourishing Sponsored Listings product. No wonder is catching up fast with Airbnb in the STR sector. See related LinkedIn post by Miroslav Gospodinov
