Updates Coming to Toronto’s Short-Term Rental By-law
by Julia White
The City of Toronto has recently released a staff report on suggested improvements to its short-term rental by-law.
As many readers will be aware, in 2020 the City of Toronto passed a by-law which governs the licensing and registration of short-term rentals. The by-law regulates short-term rental activity by requiring short-term rental operators to be registered, and short-term rental companies to be licensed with the City and abide by operational standards and regulatory requirements. It also limited short-term rentals to an operator’s principal residence, which effectively prohibited investor-owned short-term rental units.
While the implementation of the short-term rental by-law has had a welcome effect on curbing short-term rental activity, it appears that the City has identified a number of areas for improvement.
On March 27, 2024, the City issued a staff report on the short-term rental by-law implementation. The report contains a number of recommended amendments to the STR By-law, including:
strengthening the principal residence requirement through improvements to registration standards;
significantly increasing the fees payable by short-term rental operators and companies. Companies’ application fees will be increased from $5,534 to $10,000, and a new $10,000 renewal fee will be introduced. Operators’ annual fees will be increased from $55.35 to $375.00. A nightly fee of $1.10 per night per booking will be increased to $1.50;
enhancing advertising, data sharing, and data verification requirements with short-term rental companies; and
streamlining the process to revoke a short-term rental operator's registration.
The report is expected to be reviewed by City Council in April, and if approved, many of the changes will come into force on June 30, 2024.