Resolution Calling for Provincial Legislation for Third-Party Short-Term Rentals Unanimously Approved by Burlington Council

Burlington City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for Provincial government legislation of third-party short-term rental companies. The resolution was brought forward by Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith and seconded by Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte. See the approved resolution below, and my full "My Take" further down this post.APPROVED RESOLUTION:

• Whereas the demand for alternative accommodations has resulted in an increased prominence of residential properties being advertised for short term accommodations through third party companies such as Airbnb and VRBO; a shift from the ‘traditional’ cottage rental historically managed by a property owner; and
• Whereas over the past decade a flood of properties have been removed from the ownership and long-term rental market (Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance at McGill University) contributing to housing shortages, increased housing demands and increased housing costs resulting in housing affordability issues, including affordable rentals; and
• Whereas short term rentals (STR) can be beneficial, when operated appropriately, by providing solutions for the accommodation industry that supports local tourism and small businesses as well as providing an opportunity for property owners to generate income from their residence (permanent or seasonal) using a convenient third-party system; and
• Whereas STR’s can create nuisances including noise, parking, high volumes of visitors attending a property, septic capacity and fire safety, for adjacent residential property owners who wish to experience quiet enjoyment of their property; and
• Whereas research indicates that demand for STR’s is increasing, in part due to vacationers choosing domestic travel options as well as the financial benefits to property owners, demonstrating that STR’s are here to stay; and
• Whereas there are no Provincial regulations in place governing third party STR companies resulting in a variety of regulations/guidelines being implemented at the local municipal level which creates inconsistencies, confusion and frustrations for both consumers and residents across the province; and
• Therefore, be it resolved that Burlington City Council calls on the Provincial Government to move forward as soon as possible to legislate all third-party short-term rental brokerage companies, for example Airbnb and VRBO, requiring them to:
  • appropriately manage and be responsible for their listings, and to compel compliance; and
  • establish a registry system, making it mandatory for each rental listing to register and pay an appropriate annual fee, with the requirement that STR companies are to provide the registry and collected fees to the municipality in which the STR properties are located, allowing municipalities to be aware of all registered STR properties and to have access to funds to assist with the response and enforcement of issues surrounding STR properties; and
  • de-list/remove a property from the STR company’s listing when a municipality has identified and verified life, health and/or nuisance infractions including noise, fire safety, septic, etc.to ensure a property cannot be rented; and
• That a copy of this resolution be sent to all Ontario municipalities for support as well as to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Halton MPPs.

MY TAKE:Thank you to Councillors Galbraith and Stolte for bringing this important resolution forward. We have huge empathy to the communities affected negatively by the bad actors in short-term rentals. We hear you, we hear the concerns and we’ll be dealing with this by developing a local framework for Burlington later this year. The over-arching call is to the Province to introduce legislation for STRs so there is uniformity in how they operate across Ontario's municipalities. Unfortunately, we have seen harassment, abuse, and violations of our bylaws and civil society related to STRs in Burlington -- and there is absolutely no place for that in our city. We have higher expectations of behaviour from everyone living and spending time in our communities to ensure we all get along well together.

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BACKGROUND:Provincial legislation is needed to govern third-party short-term rental (STR) companies to create consistency across Ontario and to assist municipalities in managing STRs in their communities. The increase in STRs has created a need for municipalities to develop a new framework to license and enforce them due to the nuisances they can create (from bad actors) within residential neighbourhoods. Having a registry of STR properties, along with funding, will assist with the additional resources it will take to license and enforce STRs.