Tofino voted to opt into B.C.'s short-term rental rules. Now, it's backing out
Mayor unsuccessfully argued that explosion of short-term rentals has driven up housing prices
Just over a year after the B.C. resort municipality of Tofino voted to opt in to provincial rules restricting short-term rentals, council has decided to ask the province if it can back out.
Last year, the B.C. NDP government made changes to the Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act to target operators who rent out multiple units over the short term in residences where they do not live themselves, through platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
Tourism-dependent communities like Tofino, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, were not included in the principal residence requirement, according to the province.
But its council voted last year to apply to be included under the act, saying it wanted short-term rentals restricted to residents' principal properties.
That decision was reversed on Thursday when a slim majority of councillors voted to ask the province to back out of short-term rental rules.
Coun. Sarah Sloman, who brought the motion, said their business community needs certainty this summer, amid the Canada-U.S. trade war — and some business owners and homeowners had found the principal residence requirement confusing, especially given the tax penalty they would incur if they fell foul of the rules.
"Whether we opt in or not, we did gain one valuable tool from this bill, which is that [short-term rental operators] need to be registered, so that you will need to have a licence," Sloman said.
"In my career as a landscaper, I did see people who were not operating legally, and they will now need to go get a business licence through the district."
Mayor Dan Law told CBC News when his community opted into the act that a quarter of all units in his town had been operating as short-term rentals, while about 50 per cent of single-family homes had been as well.
Law was opposed to Sloman's motion Thursday, saying that the explosion of short-term rentals in the town had made life unaffordable for long-term residents, and remaining opted in would inhibit an "investor rush" on the town's homes.
"When this town opened up housing to commercialization, the rental rates for long-term tenants went through the roof and doubled," he told council.
However, Sloman's motion was passed 4-3, and staff will now submit a request to the Ministry of Housing by the end of the month.
Long-term tenant agrees
Andrew Sadler, a long-term tenant on a Tofino property that also houses short-term rentals, agreed with the decision.
Sadler said that, under the legislation, tenants like him would have to be registered as "hosts" for the short-term rental, which could create a tricky legal situation for him and his landlord.
"I don't think this is going to help our long-term rental situation," he told Kathryn Marlow, guest host of CBC's On The Island. "There's a number of obstacles that face homeowners in the conversion of short-term rentals to long-term rentals."
Sadler said his landlord would have to pay GST for the entire market value of the property if they wished to convert it to a long-term rental, which the renter argues would be an unsustainable cost to pay given inflated property values.
"It's a common misconception that these landlords are just these wealthy land barons that don't need this extra money and that they're just padding their wallets with this," the tenant argued.
"Most of these people are local people who need the funds in order to pay for their lives, and pay for their expenses because it's very expensive to live here."
In a statement to CBC News, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said council's decision "reflects their need to do what is best for their community, residents, landlords, and tourists and we're committed to working with local governments to make sure they have the tools they need to house people."
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With files from On The Island