No reservations: Innisfil takes firm stand on short-term rentals

The Town of Innisfil is joining the call for greater provincial regulation on short-term rentals (STR).

Councillors supported a resolution passed by the City of Burlington in September calling on the province to “move forward as soon as possible to legislate all third-party short-term rental companies.”

The resolution from Burlington laments the shift from “traditional” cottage rentals to rentals being managed through third-party companies such as Airbnb or VRBO. The city acknowledges STRs “can be beneficial when operated appropriately,” support 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.”

But the negatives outweigh any benefits.

“STRs 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,” the resolution states. However, “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.”

The resolution spelt out the steps it wants the province to take.

• Appropriately manage and be responsible for their listings, and to compel compliance
• 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
• 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

Innisfil councillors are well-versed in the concerns caused by STRs in the community, particularly along the Lake Simcoe shoreline. Mayor Lynn Dollin spoke to supporting Burlington in its call to action at a recent council meeting.

“I thought it’s something that we should support because it’s about the Province of Ontario taking more responsibility for regulating short-term accommodations, as they have in the Province of British Columbia,” Dollin said.

Soon after Burlington called for the Ontario government to act on STRs, B.C.'s legislative assembly took action of its own.

In October, the B.C. government introduced legislation requiring those who offer short-term accommodation to actually live on the property. As part of Bill 35, fines for short-term rental operators who break municipal bylaws will be increased and short-term rental platforms will be required to share data with the province for enforcement and tax purposes.

The bill, which drew praise from the federal government, passed in December and comes into effect May 1.

Innisfil’s support for the Burlington resolution was moved through council without additional debate, as part of its consent agenda.