The Province has introduced legislation that will support local government regulation of short-term rentals, increase allowable fines, and establish a provincial registry and enforcement unit. Key elements of the legislation supporting local government regulation respond directly to recommendations made in a 2021 Joint UBCM-Province Advisory Group report.
Overview of Legislation
Elements of the legislation that respond to the Joint UBCM-Province Advisory Group recommendations include:
Platform accountability and regional district business licensing powers: Short-term rental platforms will be required to include business licence numbers on listings where they are required by a local government, and to remove listings without them within a few days to ensure that local rules are being followed. Platforms will be required to enable the display of local government business license numbers on May 1 2024.
To enable platform accountability in rural areas, regional districts will be given broad business regulation and licensing powers paralleling those of municipalities, that would permit RDs to issue business licenses for both short-term rentals and other businesses. This responds to both the Advisory Group recommendations and UBCM resolution 2020-EB73. Regional District business licensing powers will take effect immediately after the legislation is passed and receives royal assent.
Data sharing (to be implemented in the summer of 2024): Online short-term rental platforms will be required to share their data with the Province, so the Province can provide that information to local governments for enforcement and support of provincial and federal tax auditing. No private information about hosts would be shared publicly.
Increasing allowable fines (taking effect immediately after royal assent): To further support local enforcement, municipal ticket information system fines which can be imposed per infraction, per day, will increase from $1,000 to $3,000. The Local Government Act will also be amended to increase the maximum penalty that can be levied by regional districts from a maximum of $2,000 to up to a maximum of $50,000 for prosecutions under the Offence Act.
Establishment of a Provincial regulatory framework (implementation by late 2024): The Province will establish a provincial host and platform registry and launch a provincial short-term rental compliance and enforcement unit.
Once the provincial registry is established, all hosts and platforms will be required to register with the Province, and listings will need to include a valid provincial registry number. Platforms will have 3 months to register their companies, and hosts will have 6 months to register their units once the registry is active. The enforcement unit will track compliance, issue orders, and administer penalties for violations.
Additional elements not requested by the Advisory Group include the following, both of which will be implemented on May 1, 2024:
Principal residence requirement: Short-term rentals will only be permitted in the principal residences of a host, or in not more than one secondary suite or other accessory dwelling unit that is in a prescribed location in relation to the property host's principal residence, with exemptions to be specified in forthcoming regulations.
Exempted areas will include 14 resort regions, mountain resort areas, municipalities under 10,000 population (except those within 15 kilometres of larger municipalities), and regional district electoral areas. Local governments meeting prescribed criteria may request by resolution inclusions to or exclusions from the principal residence requirement. Local governments will also still be able to use existing bylaws and introduce additional bylaws that are more restrictive for short-term rentals.
Removing legal non-conforming use protections: Legal non-conforming use protections in the Local Government Act and Vancouver Charter will be updated so that they do not apply to short-term rentals.
Communities on First Nations reserve land will be exempt from the legislation. Modern Treaty Nations will also be exempt from the legislation but will be able to opt in to the legislation if desired. The proposed legislation will not apply to hotels and motels. The Province is also drafting regulations to exempt additional types of properties including timeshares and fishing lodges.
Going Forward
UBCM is committed to working with the Province to address the housing crisis and will continue to seek opportunities for local government engagement. We welcome member input as these elements are implemented. The Province has indicated that it will be introducing several more bills and actions this fall as part of their housing plan, addressing:
- Densification of single-family areas (‘small-scale, multi-unit housing’)
- Allowing secondary and basement suites in every community in B.C.
- Development finance reform
- Adding housing targets under the Housing Supply Act for 10-12 more municipalities
- New rules to deliver new housing in areas well-served by transit
Analyses of new housing legislation will be released via the Compass and posted on the housing section of the UBCM webpage. If you have any questions or concerns that you wish to convey to UBCM, please contact Josh van Loon, Senior Policy Analyst.