Whereas according to the June 2021 Report of the Joint UBCM-Province Advisory Group on Short-Term Rentals, the short-term rental industry has seen significant growth since the arrival of online accommodation platforms such that effective regulation of short-term rental activity is necessary to ensure community economic benefits of the industry are balanced with reducing impacts of concern such as long-term rental housing availability, affordability and neighbourhood livability; And whereas many popular vacation areas lie outside of municipal boundaries in electoral areas; And whereas enforcement tools to regulate short-term rentals STRs are more limited for regional districts than they are for municipalities; And whereas the recommendations in the June 2021 report do not adequately consider the urgency of the matter nor the practical barriers to the implementation of business licensing in electoral areas: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to develop and implement short-term rental enforcement solutions for all local governments, such as broadening authority to enforce compliance through simplified ticketing procedures, collection of evidence and the establishment of proof based on online investigation of accommodation listings, and expanding options to compel payment of unpaid fines through alternative mechanisms such as applying uncollected ticket fines to property taxes.
Ministry of Housing Government is interested in supporting all local governments in enforcing their short-term rental by-laws to reduce the diversion of long-term rental and ownership units to the short-term rental market. This is clear from the direction in the Minister of Housings mandate letter of December 2022: Introduce legislation establishing new tools for local governments to help them better regulate short term rentals in their communities. The due diligence includes a close examination of the recommendations made in the June 2021 Final Report of the Joint UBCM-Province Advisory Group on Short-Term Rentals. Ministry of Housing staff are currently undertaking work on this issue, which includes identification of potential legislative changes required to enhance enforcement of short-term regulations for use by all local governments in BC. This work incudes evaluating many policy options, including those such as enabling regional districts the authority to establish short-term rental business licensing regimes and assessing the application of appropriate fines. The Ministry of Housing is consulting with its ministry partners to arrive at practical enforcement solutions, including the Ministries of Finance, Attorney General, and Municipal Affairs.