Montreal says it will only allow Airbnbs across city in summer, crack down during rest of year
Mayor Valérie Plante says current rules have overwhelmed inspectors
The City of Montreal is tightening the rules on short-term rentals arranged through companies like Airbnb as it tries to keep rising rents in check.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said Thursday the regulations introduced by the Quebec government aren't working. The city is moving to therefore only allow short-term rentals between June 10 and Sept. 10 at primary residences across the city.
The rest of the year, short-term rentals will be allowed exclusively in properly registered units within zones permitted by the city.
Plante said the current provincial rules that required all renters to register with the city had overwhelmed inspectors, making it difficult for them to keep up.
The current "model doesn't apply to our Montreal reality," she said in a statement.
"By limiting short-term rentals throughout the territory to a single permitted period, we will facilitate the work of our inspectors, who will no longer have to put together imposing files to demonstrate that proposed dwellings contravene municipal bylaws."
The province's Tourist Accommodation Act and the city's own bylaws failed to curb illegal short-term rentals, the city said.
Montreal has struggled to enforce the existing rules, despite attempts to further limit illegal rentals following a fatal fire in Old Montreal in 2023.
As it stands, more than half of roughly 4,000 units available on the short-term rental market are illegal, according to the city. The changes could therefore free up 2,000 units to the long-term rental market, the city said.
Fines for each night
The new rules are "clear," Plante said at a morning news conference, noting they will be easier to enforce because offenders will have the burden of proof instead of the other way around.
Formerly, it was up to inspectors to gather evidence and bring a case against a property owner, who was presumed innocent. Now, similar to traffic offences, property owners will have to contest fines.
Under Montreal's new framework, inspectors will issue $1,000 fines directly to offenders for each day the rules are broken. Additional fines of $2,000 may also be issued for each day of recidivism.
Plante said under the previous framework, it took inspectors over a year to respond to complaints and close illegal rentals, in some cases.
"When we're in a crisis climate, that's unacceptable," she said.
Impact on rents?
Catherine Lussier, with the housing rights group Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), called the change "a good step in a good direction."
"We hope it's going to be discouraging for people who want to do it illegally," she said, suggesting the same rules should be applied to other cities across Quebec.
She cautioned that the move won't "solve the crisis on its own," given that some of the rental units that come back on the market may be too pricey for low-income residents to afford.
In response to the new policy, Quebec Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau told Radio-Canada it's up to the city to determine how it handles short-terms rentals.
At the same time, she said the province wants to make sure the city's new rules don't hurt the tourism industry.
Ultimately, the solution to the rising cost of rents is more housing, she said.
Airbnb denounced the changes in an emailed statement, contending that short-term rentals had not contributed to low vacancy rates.
Alex Howell, a representative from the company, said the new rules would "weaken the economy, harm local businesses, drive hotel prices up and punish responsible hosts who depend on additional income during a cost of living crisis."
With files from Kwabena Oduro