Strata short-term rental bylaws

On October 26, 2023, B.C. passed short-term rental legislation to give local government stronger tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws and establish a new Provincial role in regulating short-term rentals. Strata corporations can still have strata bylaws that limit or ban short-term rentals and levy fines of up to $1,000 a day. 

Learn more on this page:

Provincial legislation: Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act
Local government short-term rental bylaws
Strata short-term rental bylaws
Short-term rentals versus long-term rentals
Consult with a strata lawyer

Provincial legislation: the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act

On October 26, 2023 the Province passed new short-term rental legislation, the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act. This legislation will give local governments stronger tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws, return short-term rental units to the long-term rental market and establish a new Provincial role in regulating short-term rentals.

The regulations and responsibilities under the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act will be phased in, coming into effect at different times from 2023 to 2025.

Learn more about the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act on the Province's Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act webpage and consider subscribing for emailed updates.

The webpages have information about the Act including: implementation timelines; the principal residence requirement and which communities it applies to; and the Provincial registry.

Please note the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act defines a short-term rental as an accommodation provided to members of the public in a host's property, in exchange for money, for a period of less than 90 consecutive days.

Local government short-term rental bylaws

In addition to the new Provincial legislation regulating short-term rentals, some local governments in B.C. also have bylaws regulating short-term rentals. The local government short-term rental bylaws are allowed to be stricter than B.C.'s new Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act.

For example, Kelowna, Powell River, Victoria and Vancouver generally limit short-term rentals to principal residences only. That means only the homeowner who lives in the unit, or the tenant who lives in the unit, may list the unit as a short-term rental. Investors who do not live in the residence may not list a unit (or units) as a short-term rental. 

Strata short-term rental bylaws

Strata corporations (or sections) can create a bylaw, by a 3/4 vote of owners, to limit or ban short-term rentals. Strata corporations can have more stringent short-term rental bylaws than the provincial legislation including the ability for strata corporations to ban short-term rentals.

Effective November 30, 2018, strata regulations 7.1 and 7.2 were amended to allow strata corporations to impose a fine of up to $1,000 a day for owners or residents not complying with a strata short-term rental bylaw; the previous allowable fine of $200 a week had not been a sufficient deterrent. This level of strata fine only applies to a strata's short-term rental bylaws.

A strata's short-term rental bylaw must specify the maximum fine (which may not exceed $1,000 a day).

Enhanced enforcement by the Province and local governments should, over time, reduce the burden on strata corporations to enforce the strata's short-term rental bylaws.

Note, that to protect privacy, data collected by the Province from short-term rental platforms will not be shared publicly or with strata corporations.

Short-term rental bylaws versus long-term rentals

As of November 24, 2022, strata corporations may not have a bylaw restricting or banning long-term rentals (residential tenancies). Learn more in strata legislation changes.

Strata corporations are still allowed to have bylaws restricting or banning short-term rentals. (Technically short-term rentals are a license to occupy and a commercial use).

Short-term rentals are not the same as long-term rentals; long-term rentals are usually governed by the Residential Tenancy Act. Please see this webpage on the Province's Residential Tenancy website for more information on which tenancies are included: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/is-my-tenancy-covered-under-bcs-tenancy-laws.

Consult with a strata lawyer

If a strata corporation and its owners are considering adopting a bylaw to limit or ban short-term rentals it is very helpful to consult with a knowledgeable strata lawyer. 

Strata legislation references:

• Strata Property Act: sections 119, 126-133, 197
• Strata Property regulation 7.1 and 7.2

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Find it fast: a site map for the strata housing website listing all the webpages.

The information on the Province's website about strata housing is provided for the user’s convenience as a basic starting point; it is not a substitute for getting legal advice. Learn more about the site’s purpose and limits. The content on this website is periodically reviewed and updated by the Province of British Columbia as per the date at the top of each page..