Bill 35 - short term rental Accommodation Act

and what it means for your summer bookings

As many of you may already know the province of BC has put in place a set short term rental regulations that will come into affect May 1st of this year. 

The most talked about portion of these new regulations has been the Primary Resident Requirement, which the Tofino council has opted into for 2024, ensuring that all property’s must house a primary long term resident in order to obtain a short term rental business licence. This is actually not a new rule for the west coast, the bylaw has required this for all properties in the district of Tofino excluding The Eik Landing condos and Fred Tibbs Condos, the difference now is that enforcement will come from the province rather than the local district and property’s like the ones I have just mentioned will no longer have protection.

What is Bill 35 - Short Term Rental Accommodation At?

Bill 35 was introduced as part of the NDP's Homes for People Action Plan to combat the housing crisis and intends to regulate short-term rental listings of less than 90 days. It amends the Local Government Act. Find out more about this here

What does this mean for my summer bookings? 

There are two important details to remember if staying in STR’s is your preferred accommodation option:

First - These regulations come into affect May 1st of 2024 however they will not be implemented until November 1st 2024. If you have already booked or plan to book a short term rental in Tofino for the summer there will be no change to your reservation or danger of losing your booking due to the new regulations.

Second - This legislation will impact only a small amount of STR’s. 

Those who are legal non conforming, meaning municipal bylaws have changed over time to no longer support their ability to short term rent however until now they have been grandfathered into the ability to hold a legal STR business license, this grandfathering will no longer be allowed.

Those who STR out of a condominium ( note there will be some condos still able to legally rent for a portion of the year so check with your host on their specific situation). 

If in doubt ask your host! They should be able to answer your questions from an informed place, if they can not that particular unit may not be the best accommodation choice. As a guest you want to ensure that your host is operating legally, for moral reasons but also to protect yourself against a possible change to your booking without notice. Units that do continue to operate illegally after November 1st 2024 will be subject to hefty fines, shut down and removal from online platforms without notice. Guests who have existing reservations will loose their booking.

This is a controversial move on the part of the Province in an effort to find more solutions for the increasing housing crisis, to find out more details on why and how this strategy will be implemented visit The Government of Canada Website.