On Wednesday, April 28th, City Council approved new regulations to govern short-term rentals across Ottawa over the next three years. The new Short-term Rental By-law establishes a host permit system for local short-term rental hosts, as well as rules for short-term rental platforms and property managers.
In line with a strategy that Council adopted in November 2019, the new by-law was designed to address community nuisance issues and concerns around public health and safety. Violations of the by-law could result in fines for both guests and host of up to $100,000 each day that an offence occurs. In addition, the City could suspend or revoke a host permit for violating the by-law.
To protect housing inventory for Ottawa residents, the by-law restricts short-term rentals to principal residences in urban residential zones and rural villages. Operators will need to get a host permit from the City proving the rental property is their principal residence. Some properties that are not a host’s principal residence would be permitted, but only in certain rural areas. Such properties would be defined separately as cottage rentals.
