Whereas the Province announced in February 2018 that it struck an agreement with Airbnb whereby the latter will collect both provincial sales tax PST and the municipal and regional district tax MRDT on short-term guest stays in British Columbia and in April 2018, a second agreement was announced between Airbnb and the City of Vancouver whereby Airbnb will not accept listings in that city that do not hold a business licence; And whereas most local governments are achieving only minimal compliance with their short-term rental regulations, particularly when compared to the compliance of conventional accommodators, and those local governments that do have high compliance must charge exceptionally high licence fees in order to cover compliance-check costs: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province negotiate a province-wide agreement with Airbnb and other regionally-active short-term rental platforms to assist local governments with compliance checks, whereby the short-term rental platforms agree to require their hosts to provide proof of a valid business license, where applicable, in order to advertise using their service.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing The issue of short term rentals STRs is complex and relatively new. The Province recognizes that growing demand for STRs can put significant pressure on: vacancy rates, rents and home prices for residents and seasonal workers across the province. The Province is aware that many communities are responding to the issue of enforcement in a variety of ways. Local governments in B.C. have the authority through the Local Government Act and the Community Charter to regulate short-term rentals, for example by limiting or banning short-term rentals through zoning or applying restrictive conditions through business licensing. The Province has recognized the issue of STR enforcement and compliance in stratas. The Strata Property Act was amended to enable strata corporations, effective November 30, 2018, to fine up to 1,000 a day for strata residents not complying with a strata bylaw limiting or banning short term rentals. The Province will continue to closely monitor the issue of STRs and their impact on communities across B.C.