There are new requirements for short-term rental platforms to operate in B.C. Learn about your responsibilities as a platform operating in B.C. on this page.
On this page:
Effective May 1st, short-term rental platforms will be required to:
Also effective May 1, 2024, major platforms with 1,000 or more listings offered in B.C. will be required to disclose certain short-term rental information to the Province.
By late 2024 or early 2025, the Province expects that short-term rental platforms will be required to:
Understanding provincial requirements is the responsibility of the platforms. Not following the rules may result in penalties, such as:
Short-term rental platforms facilitate promotion and transactions for reservations and payments related to short-term rental accommodation services in B.C.
While all platforms in B.C. need to follow the rules, there are specific responsibilities for major platforms, which are defined as platforms with 1,000 or more listings offered in B.C.
Some small operators of short-term rentals may be both a host and platform, such as certain strata hotels or motels, if they are both the supplier host and also manage the promotions, reservations and payments for their listings. In this case, they will need to follow the rules for both hosts and platforms. For a strata hotel or motel, their platform is the dedicated online booking system they use for reservations at their specific property.
Short-term rental platforms must identify a platform representative to communicate with the Province by May 15, 2024. This person will be responsible for representing the platform regarding regulatory requirements for platforms.
Platforms can contact STRdata@gov.bc.ca for more information.
As of May 1, 2024, short-term rental hosts must display a valid business licence number on their listing in areas where a business licence is required by the local government. It is the host’s responsibility to determine whether a local government business licence is required when they post their listing on a short-term rental platform.
Platforms must enable an entry field for business licence numbers on all short-term rental listings.
Platforms must cease providing platform services in respect of a listing (for example, remove the listing and cancel bookings associated with the listing) that do not comply with a business licence requirement at the request of a local government. All listing removal requests will be made to the platform through the STR Data Portal.
The steps for requesting a listing to be removed are:
The director of the p rovincial c ompliance and e nforcement u nit may also issue compliance orders for the removal of listings that do not comply with p rovincial requirements.
Platforms must confirm a listing has been removed in a monthly report to the Minister of Housing:
Beginning in May 2024, short-term rental platforms with 1,000 or more listings in B.C. will be required to share information about short-term rental listings directly with the Province on a monthly basis . Platforms with fewer than 1,000 listings will be required to share the same information by late 2024.
Data sharing will occur through a STR Data Portal. Information provided to the Province will be shared with local governments for enforcement of their own short-term rental bylaws. This information will be kept confidential and not disclosed to the public. Information includes:
By early 2025, the Province expects to establish a short-term rental registry. All short-term rental hosts and platforms will be required to register.
Detailed information on the registration process will be available closer to the launch of the registry.
Once the registry is established, platforms will be required to:
Subscribe for emailed updates to B.C.'s Short-term Rental Accommodations Act, regulations and related information.
The information on this webpage about the Province of British Columbia’s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act and regulations is provided for the user’s convenience as a basic starting point. It is not a substitute for getting legal advice or other professional advice. If there is a conflict between the information on this webpage and the legislation or regulations, the legislation and regulations prevail. The interpretation of legislation is also affected by court decisions. This information may be subject to change, including changes due to the legislative process.
Please contact ServiceBC if you have questions about B.C.'s new short-term rental legislation.