UPDATE: April 24, 2024

I moved the following motion, which passed unanimously:

Short Term Rental Regulations

That Administration provide a report on:

a review of the current state of municipal and provincial short term rental regulations (including licensing, zoning, taxation and other regulatory models) with options or recommendations for further bylaw amendments and programming,
amendments to Bylaw 20002, Business Licence Bylaw, including but not limited to, requiring Residential Rental Accommodation (Short-Term) licensees to remain on the premises while operating the business.

I decided to request this report as it became clear that some of my Council colleagues did not feel they had enough information to pass a by-law change at this time. My hope is that upon this report returning (expected to return in the fall of 2025), it will be clear to everyone why it is important that we implement changes requiring that short-term rentals hosts remain on the premises while operating. This would allow for an owner to have a short term rental in their home, their basement, their garage suite -- as long as they are on the premises (every hotel needs a night desk manager, right?).

Further, I am asking city administration to provide options on how we can hold short-term rental companies such as Air Bnb accountable for allowing hosts on their site who are not complying with Edmonton's business bylaws. Hosts are already legally required to list their business licence numbers in the listings, but the platforms do not require them to do so. City administration has previously stated that approximately half of the short-term rental listings in Edmonton are operating without business licenses. This is a safety issue, and also costs the city money as we use our resources to try and enforce the bylaw requirement. The platforms need to be reigned in and held accountable.

"What we have here is a residential street with residential zoning being used for commercial use with no supervision, no front desk. It's not even as safe as living next to a hotel because there is no night watchman, there's nothing." - CBC News

Cities across North America are re-thinking Short Term Rentals. it’s time that Edmonton does the same.

According to watchdog, AirDNA.ca, Edmonton has approximately 4.4 thousand active short-term rental listings such as airBnB or VRBO. They also note the market has grown dramatically including 18% last year. In 2019, City administration suggested that approximately half were operating without a valid business license (Note that they are supposed to include their business license number in the advertisement). Like the illegal parking lots, or any illegal operation, they should be rigorously shut down or fined into compliance.

And while lobbyists may share the "mom and pop" talking points, data shows that some hosts have as many as 45 properties.

The Rent is too damn High

In the midst of our housing crisis, taking homes off the market to transition them into Short-term rentals constrains housing supply and leads to increased rents for those fortunate enough to need a home.

A New study from McGill suggests B.C. renters paying 'Airbnb tax' due to market pressures. A team of researchers has crunched the numbers and estimates that British Columbia’s renters are paying roughly 20 per cent more than they otherwise would have due to the impact of short-term rentals. (https://bc.ctvnews.ca/new-report-suggests-b-c-renters-paying-airbnb-tax-due-to-market-pressures-1.6569716)

Party Houses continue to be a repeated burden.

With absent hosts, the enforcement burden is downloaded or externalized onto the neighbours. The landlord keeps the profit and the cleaning fee while the community has to pay more tax to clean up the mess.

My office has received too many calls from residents in the surrounding community who end up having to call bylaw or the police and strain our existing resources. The infractions and complaints I have received range from noise bylaw to waste to parking.

As a city, have we realized the intended benefit from allowing short-term rentals?

While their may be a perceived benefit to private landlords, the negative impacts to the overall housing market to the 36% of Edmontonians who rent are incredibly significant.

From conversations with my City Council colleagues, I know my office is not alone in these concerns, and community groups such as Student Legal Services have also been researching the negative impacts that short term rentals have on the housing market.

I would like to see two immediate actions made to amend our Business Bylaw.

"That City Council move to amend the Bylaw 2002 (Section 60) residential short-term rental to add:

(f) not to exceed 90 days a year

(g) to require the owner to remain on the premises for the duration

Background

"Fairbnb Canada Network is pleased to see efforts commencing to rein in commercial short-term rentals in Edmonton. Homes planned, approved and built as residential should be used for long-term tenants, and not as quasi-hotel inventory for platforms like Airbnb. The regulatory steps under consideration in Edmonton protect housing stock from such conversions while allowing residents to share their own home with guests and tourists. This is a balanced approach, and simply the only reasonable one given our housing supply shortage.”

- Thorben Wieditz, Executive Director of Fairbnb Canada Network

City of Edmonton Business Bylaw:

https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-files/BL20002.pdf?cb=1695222987

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-airbnb-legislation-1.6838625

Provincial government wants to fine companies up to $100K per listing if they don't follow the rules

Thorben Wieditz, the director of Fairbnb, is hopeful the legislation will set a new countrywide standard, whereby other provinces set up their own registries. His organization was formed in 2016 by a hotel workers' union in Toronto concerned about the proliferation of condo towers filled with Airbnb rentals. Fairbnb has since pushed for cities across Canada to develop stronger rules that allow homeowners to rent out their own unit occasionally but crack down on properties being solely used as short-term rentals.

https://fairbnb.ca/2023/09/20/for-immiate-release-the-role-of-short-term-rentals-in-b-c-s-rising-rents-a-2-billion-impact-according-to-mcgill-university-study/#jp-carousel-2424

Will you sign?

I support action on short term rentals. Please send me news updates and ways that I can take action in my community.

Rethink Short Term Rentals

Cities across North America are re-thinking Short Term Rentals. it’s time that Edmonton does the same.

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