Why municipalities are happy with B.C.’s short-term rental changes

The mayors of Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Tofino are quite different when it comes to their political ideologies.

But all four of them were singing from the same song book on Monday, after the provincial government announced new regulations on short-term rental units. 

“I'm delighted,” said Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto.

“We are pleased,” enthused Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.

“Well done,” said Tofino Mayor Dan Law.

“"We applaud the province's leadership,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas.

Those were all excerpts from statements the province released when announcing the changes. 

Having boilerplate endorsements is a standard practice when governments announce new policy, and sometimes those statements can be misleading.

But in the case of short-term rentals, there’s plenty of evidence municipalities are very supportive of the changes. 

Part of this is simply based on voter sentiment: local politician after local politician at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference last month implored the province to do something on short-term rentals, whereas complaints were much more concentrated in Vancouver and resort destinations. 

And second, mayors are happy that short-term rental hosts will have to register directly with the province, which already has the tax information about whether a property is a primary residence or not. 

That, in addition to the province promising to create its own enforcement unit, makes enforcing the rules much easier than the whack-a-mole approach local bylaw officers have been taking to try and deal with the issue.

“We spent an enormous amount of time with our bylaws staff trying to do the detective work,” said Alto.  

“This allows us to do some simple work ... to enforce our own regulations.”

At least, that’s the hope from the province and many cities. 

But the new rules won’t be fully implemented until after next year’s provincial election.

If rents are still increasing across the province at that time, these new policies will surely be talked about.