Home Business & Economy Housing Short-term rental operators must register by May 1

Short-term rental operators must register by May 1

Short-term rentals must register by May 1, 2025 | Early-bird discount is 50% to register by Feb 28, 2025, or 25% discount if registered by March 31, 2025.

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Registration for Short Term Rental hosts and platforms in BC.
CANADA-USA NEWS & ANALYSIS

Monday January 20, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC

by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends


B.C.’s Housing Ravi Kahlon today announced the launch of a new B.C.-wide registry for short-term rentals.

The registry is part of the government’s broader plan to curb short-term rentals specifically and increase housing options generally.

The government says it’s part of helping more families find a place to live, and to build on actions underway to make homes available for people, and not for speculators, the Province is launching a new short-term rental registry.

Short-term rental hosts, platforms and strata hotel platforms in B.C. must register by May 1, 2025 and pay annual registration fees. 

What is a short-term rental?

Short-term rentals are accommodations provided to members of the public in a host’s property, in exchange for money, for a period of less than 90 consecutive days. They are generally tourist accommodations that are often found in residential or resort areas. They may be advertised via online platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com, and may be advertised on other web forums, including Facebook Marketplace, or found in classified ads in newspapers.

Short-term rentals do not include accommodation that was intended to be provided for 90 consecutive days or longer, but which unexpectedly ends before 90 days have passed.

Short-term rental platforms:

Platforms, or platform services, refers to the facilitation of promotion and transactions for reservations and payments related to short-term rental accommodation services in British Columbia, provided by an online platform.

Registration details:

Anyone operating a short-term rental in B.C. and listing on a platform, which may include, for example, Airbnb, VRBO, or Booking.com, is required to register. This includes hosts operating outside areas with the principal residence requirement.  

Hosts, platforms, and strata hotel platforms operating in B.C. must follow a simple online process to register with the Province by May 1, 2025. All applicants are encouraged to register early to ensure that their application can be processed before May 1, 2025. This will help to avoid disruptions to short-term rental operations.

Hosts will receive a 50% discount on fees if they register by February 28, 2025, or a 25% discount if they register by March 31, 2025. Registration fees will support the short-term rental enforcement program and help ensure homes are being used for people living and working in B.C.

Hosts who do not comply will:

  • have their listings taken down, starting May 1, 2025
  • have future bookings cancelled, starting June 1, 2025

Failure to register:

As of May 1, 2025, there are consequences for failing to register when required to do so. Short-term rental platforms will be required to verify that all short-term rental listings on their website have a valid registration number.

Where a short-term rental does not have a valid registration number, short-term rental platforms must take action to remove unregistered listings in two phases: 

  • From May 1 to 31, 2025, platforms must stop advertising any short-term rentals that do not have a valid registration number and prevent any new bookings
  • Beginning June 1, 2025, and going forward, platforms must stop advertising any short-term rentals that do not have a valid registration number, prevent any new bookings, and cancel any existing bookings

Operating without a valid registration number may also result in administrative monetary penalties.