Housing: An Update on Short-Term Rentals.

• Author: Feng, Judy
• Position: Columns

I've been waiting for years to write this article. In the housing sphere, short-term rentals have been an issue for quite a while. Typically transacted through on-line platforms such as Airbnb, a short-term rental is a type of rental accommodation where a person (often referred to as a "host") rents out a premises or part of a premises for a short duration. For example, the rental accommodation can be an entire home, a condominium, a private room, a shared room or a space in a home where the "host" lives.

The short-term rental market in Canada has grown rapidly. Here are a few fast facts:

* The short-term rental market in Canada was estimated to be worth $2.8 billion in 2018.

* From 2015 to 2018, the market in Canada grew nearly tenfold.

* The largest markets for short-term accommodations in Canada are Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec (in that order). These three provinces account for nearly 90% of total short-term accommodation revenue in 2018. Alberta trails as the fourth largest market, accounting for about 5.5% of total revenue.

* There are over 200,000 short-term rental listings in Canada, with most listings concentrated in three cities: Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

* There are 2,239 active short-term rental listings in Edmonton (as of 2019) and 3,364 active short-term rental units in Calgary (as of 2018), posted across various on-line platforms.

Short-term rentals have largely operated in a legally grey area. With the rapid growth of the market, there have been increasing concerns about consistent standards and safety shared by guests, owners and communities. In larger cities such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, there have been additional concerns about short-term rentals impacting housing affordability.

That said, whenever we receive questions about information or resources on short-term rentals in Alberta, my default response has been a wait and see approach. What can you do when there was no legislation, regulations or bylaws directly addressing the issue of short-term rentals? Really, I didn't think there was much to write or talk about. Until now.

Alberta's short-term rental (and related) regulations

In Alberta, we have provincial legislation and regulations relating to specific types of accommodation. For instance, the Residential Tenancies Act applies to tenancies of residential premises while the Innkeeper's Act applies to hotels/motels, boarding houses and lodges. There is legislation on public health and safety...