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B.C.'s short-term rental legislation

Last updated on January 28, 2025

Like many jurisdictions, B.C. is regulating short-term rentals to help return more short-term rental units into homes for people. Learn more about B.C.'s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act and regulations on this page.

On this page:

Overview of B.C.'s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act

B.C. is facing a housing crisis, with a shortage of all forms of attainable housing, including long-term rentals. The rise of the short-term rental of entire homes is taking away much needed homes for British Columbians, making it more challenging to find affordable long-term places to live. 

Many local governments have taken action to regulate short-term rentals, but enforcement of bylaws remains a challenge, and they have asked the Province for more tools and resources. 

The purpose of the Act is to: 

  • Help more people find a place to live

  • Give local governments stronger tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws 

  • Establish a new provincial role in the regulation of short-term rentals 

The rules aim to help balance the need to create more long-term homes for residents, including people who work in the tourism and hospitality industry, with the need to accommodate visitors, particularly in smaller communities and those communities that are heavily reliant on tourism.

The Act applies to short-term rentals being offered to the public including: 

  • Platforms where people reserve and pay for the accommodation, which may include, for example, Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com

  • Offers on other web listing forums, for example, Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and Craigslist 

  • Listings in classified ads in newspapers 

The Act will not apply to: 

  • Hotels, motels, hostels 

  • Reserve lands 

  • Nisga’a Lands or the Treaty Lands of a Treaty First Nation (unless the Nation chooses to opt into all or part of the legislation through a coordination agreement with the Province) 

  • A vehicle, such as an RV 

  • A tent or other temporary shelter â€‹

Helping more people find a place to live

Principal residence requirement 

The provincial principal residence requirement limits short-term rentals to:

This requirement does not apply everywhere. Find more information on the provincial principal residence requirement on the principal residence requirement page.

Changes to legal non-conforming use protections

Protections for non-conforming use of property will no longer apply to short term rentals. In some areas, these protections have allowed short-term rental hosts to continue to use their property for short-term rentals even when it was against the bylaws set by the local government. 

  • Protections for non-conforming use of property will continue to exist for other land uses
  • Information about non-conforming use is available through local governments

Strengthening local government tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws

Display of business licence

Many local governments require a business licence for a host to operate a short-term rental. Short-term rental hosts must display a valid business licence number on their listing in areas where a business licence is required by the local government.

Platform accountability

If a listing does not comply with a business licence requirement where required by the local government, the short-term rental platform must remove the listing at the request of the local government.

Data sharing

To assist local governments with better short-term rental bylaw enforcement, short-term rental platforms are required to share information about short-term listings on a monthly basis. 

This information is confidential and will not be disclosed to the public.   

Increased fines and tickets

The maximum fine that regional districts can set for prosecutions of bylaw offences under the Offence Act has increased from $2,000 to $50,000. This is consistent with the maximum fines for municipalities under the Community Charter.

The maximum municipal ticketing fine that a local government may set under the Community Charter Bylaw Enforcement Ticket Regulation and Vancouver Charter By-Law Enforcement Ticket Regulation has increased from $1,000 to $3,000 per infraction, per day. This fine can be applied in: 

  • Municipalities
  • Regional districts
  • Islands Trust 

New business licensing authority for regional districts

Regional districts are now able to regulate and licence short-term rentals and other businesses, in similar ways to municipalities. This change comes from amendments to the Local Government Act.

Find more information about regional district business licensing here: Regional district business regulation

Establishing provincial oversight of short-term rentals

As of May 1, 2025, all short-term rental hosts, platforms, and strata hotel platforms operating in B.C. must be registered with the provincial short-term rental registry. This ensures that all hosts and platforms operating in B.C. are following the provincial rules.

Hosts are required to include a provincial registration number on their listing, and short-term rental platforms are required to validate registration numbers on host listings against provincial registry data.

To process registration applications, the new provincial short-term rental registry team will:

  • Review registration applications and issue decisions
  • Work with platforms to support validation of registration numbers

Provincial compliance and enforcement unit

To ensure the provincial rules are followed, the new provincial compliance and enforcement unit will:

  • Monitor compliance
  • Issue compliance orders
  • Administer penalties for violations  

Short-term rentals versus tenancies

In general, a booking made on a short-term rental platform is not covered under the Residential Tenancy Act as usually the accommodation is being occupied for vacation or travel purposes. However, there are circumstances in which a tenancy may be established.

Find more information on what types of accommodation are covered by the Residential Tenancy Act at this page: Types of rental housing situations 

If there is uncertainty about the legal requirements related to a specific accommodation arrangement, it is best to speak with a lawyer.

News release

In addition to the information on this page, please also see the October 16, 2023, Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act news release, backgrounders, and technical briefing presentation.

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Disclaimer

The information on this webpage on the Province of British Columbia’s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act and regulations is provided for the user’s convenience as a basic starting point. It is not a substitute for getting legal advice or other professional advice. If there is a conflict between the information on this webpage and the legislation or regulations, the legislation and regulations prevail. The interpretation of legislation is also affected by court decisions.  This information may be subject to change, including due to the legislative process.

If you have questions about B.C.'s short-term rental legislation, please contact the ServiceBC call centre at 1-833-828-2240 or email STRregistry@gov.bc.ca. 

  • ServiceBC is open Mon to Fri from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm with help available on the phone, toll free, in 140 languages and for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.