Eligibility Criteria & Notes (Workarounds):
**Check with local bylaws, which may be more restrictive but not less restrictive**
- The Short-term rental must be an ADU (additional dwelling unit)
Note: This means you may no longer have STRs on properties that do not have a mother-in-law-suite, carriage house, or basement suite. The good news is, now all these types of properties are eligible, and if you own them, you have access to a much more lucrative market due to the drastically reduced number of available rentals; as well, you have the added security of someone keeping an eye on your STR money maker.
- The principal resident must live on the property and have permission from whoever owns the land to run a short-term rental.
Note: If you are a landlord with a property that has multiple suites, and personally living on the property isn’t an option for you; you can rent one of the units to a long-term tenant, and make a deal with them for reduced rent, to apply as the principal resident, and host the rental for the other suite. This will satisfy all conditions of the legislation and enable the business license to be approved. As the property management company, we can then be added on as a co-host to run the operations and manage payouts. Ps. Make sure that any deal or agreement made between you and your tenant is in writing and connected to their lease.
- Vehicles are eligible!
Note: This includes trailers such as airstreams and school buses! Do you have a place where you could park something on your property? Maybe it’s time to keep your eyes peeled for a good deal, make a tiny home conversation, and park the end product on your lot for an added $$REVENUE STREAM$$!!
- Temporary Shelters are still eligible!
Note: Tiny homes on wheels, Glamping tents, and Yurts are on the table! Time to get creative!!
Summary of the Act
Overview: The Province of British Columbia (B.C.) is addressing its housing crisis by regulating short-term rentals, particularly entire homes, which contribute to the shortage of long-term rentals.
Legislation Highlights:
Purpose: The Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act aims to give local governments stronger tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws, return short-term rental units to the long-term housing market, and establish a new provincial role in regulation.
Applicability: The Act applies to short-term rentals offered to the public through various platforms, excluding specific categories like hotels, motels, reserve lands, and certain types of shelters.
Local Government Tools: Measures include increased fines and tickets, new business licensing authority for regional districts, display of business licenses, platform accountability, and data sharing.
Principal Residence Requirement: Starting May 1, 2024, short-term rentals are limited to the host’s principal residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit.
Changes to Non-conforming Use Protections: As of May 1, 2024, protections for non-conforming use regarding short-term rentals will no longer apply in some areas.
Provincial Oversight: A short-term rental registry will be established by late 2024 or early 2025, with a compliance and enforcement unit ensuring adherence to provincial rules.
Timeline:
- Effective October 26, 2023 (with Royal Assent): Increased fines and business licensing authority for regional districts
- May 1, 2024: Principal residence requirement (including exempt areas and accommodations), changes to legal non-conforming use protections, and requirement to display valid business licences, where these are required
- Summer 2024: Data sharing and enabling provincial support for local governments where platforms fail to remove listings without valid business licences, where these are required
- Late 2024: Provincial registry launch and requiring platforms to remove listings without valid provincial registry numbers
Short-Term Rentals vs. Tenancies: Generally, short-term rental bookings are not covered under the Residential Tenancy Act, but there may be circumstances where a tenancy is established.
Policy Guidance for Local Governments: Local governments can refer to policy guidance for the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act, covering key aspects such as fines, business licensing, platform accountability, and data sharing.
Definitions and Key Concepts:
- Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU): A self-contained living unit with its own kitchen, sleeping area, and washroom facilities located on the same property as a dwelling unit.
- Fractional Ownership: Ownership of a fraction of a property, typically with the right to use it for an equal fraction of the year.
- Home Exchange: An arrangement where a person offers the right to use their property for accommodation in B.C. in exchange for the right to use another person’s property.
- Outdoor Recreational Activity: Activities connected to lodges, often organized by the operator of overnight commercial accommodation or carried out with a guide.
- Platform Service: The facilitation of promotion and transactions for reservations and payments related to short-term rental accommodation services in British Columbia, provided by an online platform.
- Principal Residence: The residence an individual lives in for a longer period during a calendar year than any other place.
- Secondary Suite: A self-contained living unit with its own kitchen, sleeping area, and washroom facilities contained within a larger dwelling unit.
- Short-Term Rental: Accommodations provided to the public in a host’s property, in exchange for money, for a period of fewer than 90 consecutive days.
- Strata Guest Suites: Accommodations mainly for people visiting residents in strata lots, located in common areas or strata lots owned by the strata corporation.
- Strata-Titled Hotel or Motel: A property where accommodation is provided similar to a hotel or motel. Different owners own strata lots but cannot use them as their principal residence due to a mandatory rental pool or rental management agreement.
- Student Accommodation: A property used for more than 6 months in a calendar year for the living accommodation of students or employees of an educational institution, owned or operated by the institution or a non-profit organization.
- Time Share Property: A property where a person has a time share contract or interest according to the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act or the Real Estate Development Marketing Act.
List of Included Communities (Population 10,000 and over or close proximity):
- Abbotsford
- Anmore
- Belcarra
- Burnaby
- Campbell River
- Central Saanich
- Chilliwack
- Coldstream
- Colwood
- Comox
- Coquitlam
- Courtenay
- Cranbrook
- Cumberland
- Dawson Creek
- Delta
- Duncan
- Esquimalt
- Fort St. John
- Highlands
- Kamloops
- Kelowna
- Lake Country
- Langford
- Langley (City)
- Langley (Township)
- Maple Ridge
- Metchosin
- Mission
- Nanaimo
- Nelson
- New Westminster
- North Cowichan
- North Saanich
- North Vancouver (City)
- North Vancouver (District)
- Oak Bay
- Parksville
- Penticton
- Pitt Meadows
- Port Alberni
- Port Coquitlam
- Port Moody
- Pouce Coupe
- Powell River
- Prince George
- Prince Rupert
- Richmond
- Qualicum Beach
- Saanich
- Salmon Arm
- Sechelt
- Sidney
- Sooke
- Squamish
- Summerland
- Surrey
- Terrace
List of Exempt Communities:
- Alert Bay
- Armstrong
- Ashcroft
- Barriere
- Bowen Island Municipality
- Burns Lake
- Cache Creek
- Canal Flats
- Castlegar
- Chase
- Chetwynd
- Clearwater
- Clinton
- Creston
- Daajing Giids
- Enderby
- Fernie
- Fort St. James
- Fraser Lake
- Fruitvale
- Gibsons
- Gold River
- Golden
- Grand Forks
- Granisle
- Greenwood
- Harrison Hot Springs
- Hazelton
- Hope
- Houston
- Hudson’s Hope
- Invermere
- Kaslo
- Kent
- Keremeos
- Kimberley
- Kitimat
- Ladysmith
- Lake Cowichan
- Lantzville
- Lillooet
- Lions Bay
- Logan Lake
- Lumby
- Mackenzie
- Masset
- Merritt
- Midway
- Montrose
- Nakusp
- New Denver
- New Hazelton
- Northern Rockies Regional Municipality
- Oliver
- Osoyoos
- Peachland
- Pemberton
- Port Alice
- Port Clements
- Port Edward
- Port Hardy
- Port McNeill
- Princeton
- Quesnel
- Revelstoke
- Radium Hot Springs
- Rossland
- Salmo
- Sayward
- Sechelt
- Sicamous
List of Exempt Ski Resorts:
- Apex Mountain Resort
- Bear Mountain (Dawson Creek)
- Big Bam Ski Hill (Taylor)
- Big White Ski Resort
- Blackcomb Mountain Resort
- Clearwater Ski Hill
- Crystal Mountain Resort
- Cypress Bowl
- Fairmont Hot Springs Ski Hill
- Fernie Alpine Resort
- Grouse Mountain
- Harper Mountain
- Hart Highlands (Prince George)
- Hudson Bay Mountain Resort
- Hudson’s Hope
- Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
- Kimberley Alpine Resort
- Little Mac Ski Hill (Mackenzie)
- Manning Park
- Mount Baldy Ski Area
- Mount Cain Ski Resort
- Mount Seymour
- Mount Timothy Ski Hill
- Mount Washington
- Murray Ridge Ski Area
- Panorama Mountain Village
- Phoenix Mountain Ski Resort
- Powder King Mountain Resort
- Purden Ski Village
- Red Mountain Resort
- Revelstoke Mountain Resort
- Saddle Mountain Resort
- Salmo Ski Hill
- Sasquatch Mountain Resort
- Shames Mountain Ski Area
- Silver Star Mountain Resort
- Summit Lake Ski Area
- Sun Peaks Resort
- Tabor Mountain Ski Resort
- Troll Resort
- Valemount Destination Resort
- Wapiti Ski Club
- Whistler Mountain Resort
- Whitewater Ski Resort