Airbnb has created controversy since it first arrived in Quebec. The online ‘home-rental hub’ founded in 2008, offers tourists and travelers access to millions of accommodations in over 190 countries – with lodgings available in houses, condos, villas and more. And now the Quebec government will be putting forth new regulations this autumn, aimed at curbing some of their practices.
Quebec government Bill 67
One of the main issues back in late 2015, was when a study by McGill University’s David Wachsmuth and his team, showed a small number of commercial property managers had been generating a majority of Airbnb‘s overall revenue – and cutting into available housing rentals for Montrealers, as well as driving up rent prices. They also found that two or three per cent of the housing available in Montreal’s more popular Plateau-Mont-Royal and Ville-Marie boroughs, were being run by property management companies offering short-term rentals. The provincial government put forth Bill 67 to regulate them – requiring those who rent out their properties to get a certificate from Quebec’s tourism ministry, pay a lodging tax and if they were not the property owner, advise their landlords they would be renting to tourists. Considerable fines were in place for those who didn’t follow the rules – but it still wasn’t stopping many from breaking them.
Quebec new regulations to Airbnb
When the new regulations are in place this autumn, people who rent out their homes for less than 31 consecutive days will be required to get a registration number and a permit costing somewhere from $50 to $75 and they will be required to include it in all rental documents and listings. As well, tenants in duplexes or triplexes will need permission from their landlord for any short-term rentals, with condo owners needing the same from their condo association or syndicate. According to Caroline Proulx, Quebec’s Tourism Minister, the aim of these new regulations are in order to keep track of those renting out any short-term property so that they pay Revenue Quebec’s 3.5% Accommodation Tax – and in turn ‘help even the playing field for those in the industry who are struggling since the massive hike in Airbnb rentals in Quebec since 2016’. Whether it will be effective or not remains to be seen.
