Gabriel Leclerc has two cabins in Calabogie, Ontario, with his family. He is removing them Airbnb after the municipality introduced short -term rental license rules in 2024.
He and other cabin owners say that between rates and a complex administrative process, it is no longer worth renting their vacation properties.
“Frankly, we were not surprised because we knew that many different municipalities and communities were analyzing such licenses,” he said. “But when we began Going through him … the rules and the intrusion of the process became more excessive. ”
The short -term rental license rules are becoming a popular way for municipalities to regulate vacation houses in the country of the Ontario cabin. But the new rules are causing frustrations among the owners, some of whom are taking houses from the rental market instead of complying.
Leclerc says that he already pays insurance, cleaning and maintenance of property. It is frustrated by the additional cost and the fact that it is required to provide documents to the municipality that says they have already done so. His family now plans to sell both properties.
“We had plans to rent them for a while, and then as children grow up, using them for ourselves,” he said. “And now … that extra work and the license load no longer makes it worth it.”
How do the rules work?
Is to each municipality In Ontario, if regular short -term rentals or requires an owner to obtain a short -term rental license (STR) or short -term accommodation (STA) for the properties that are rented for a certain number of days every year.
In Greater Madawaska, which includes Calabogie, Short -term accommodation licenses It costs the owners $ 300 per year and covers the administration costs of the city. The owners must provide a map of their septic system and the design of the property, among other requirements, if they plan to rent their or home for less than 28 consecutive days.
Currently, it is the only municipality in Renfrew County with the rate. Other areas of the province have adopted similar policies. Both Prince Edward County and the city of Ottawa have had in force policies since 2021. Municipalities in Haliburton County have had their own policies since 2024.
According to the Municipality of the Greater Madowaska website, the statutes are in their place to ensure that security standards are met and “preserve the character” of the community. When registering a rent, a municipality can guarantee fire codes, maximum occupation rules and noise statutes.
Other municipalities say that the provincial housing crisis has created the need to regulate the number of short -term rentals.
But some cabin owners say that policies do not have the desired effect.
‘It is not worth renting’
Kelly Percival-Green has owned her three bedroom cabin, just a few steps from Calabogie Peaks Resort, for more than four years. His family bought it with the intention of using it as a winter skiing cabin, and in summer, occasionally rent it to cover the cost of maintenance. But now, he says, he has been forced to get him out of the rental market due to STA regulations.
She and her husband live two hours away. To comply with the statute, they would have to hire someone on duty who can respond to emergencies within an hour and who can verify carbon monoxide detectors and smoke after each stay.
“It simply became that it was not worth renting,” he said. “I mean security, but that was a bit exaggerated in my opinion.”
When he retires in a few years, he says he will have to reassess the property.
“It was very useful to be able to rent it and see the partially paid invoices. Now we are only paying the invoices and we are shrinking a little because it hurts financially.”
‘Level game field’
Not everyone is frustrated with the new rules. Meghan James, general manager of the Alemywhere inn in Calabogie, says that the Motel Boutique already pays license rates and business registration. She says it is fair that other strs also pay them.
“The change is always difficult. But if you are running your home or your second home or cabin as a business, I think there are rates associated with that. So, if you are generating income from that, you must also budge those license rates,” he said.
“I think everyone puts on a level playing field.”
She says that the regulation is important, not only to handle the noise to respect the neighbors who live in the area throughout the year, but also for security.
“These guests … They deserve that tranquility. Knowing that if something happens, everything is taken care of, water is being tested, they have smoke alarms,” he said.
“You should have these things as well as any other accommodor would have to do it.”
But STR licenses have not been applied uniformly, according to JT Lowes, the owner of All-Season Cottage Rentals in Haliburton County, which manages private property properties and helps rent them. The differences in the application between the municipalities mean that some owners are paying more than others, and need to follow different rules, he says.
There is no uniform definition of a STR and the different municipalities are charged. license rates at variable rates. The cost of a short -term rental license in Minden Hills is approximately $ 500, compared to a host permit in Ottawa, which costs about $ 116 every two years.
“The owners are predominantly impacting those who only rent a handful of weeks every year,” he said. “The investment owners seen in Airbnb who are trying to maximize their rentals and income, this is just another … expense to manage a business, at the end of the day, it is not affecting them so much.
“It is leading to a large black rental market,” he said. “They are still renting, but they are doing it silently underground, you know, friends and family … to avoid having to license.”
The regulations are hurting ontarium tourism, he believes. Since the municipalities in Haliburton County promulgated the STR statutes in October 2024, he says he has lost half of his business. He has had to fire a full -time employee, and estimates that at least 20 cleaning works have been lost.
“We are not really against rental licenses, it is necessary,” he said. “But the devil is in the details.”
Minden Hills Coun. Pam Sayne says that because the rules are so new, it will take time to solve problems. Your municipality has its own policy and She says that municipalities in Haliburton County are working to find a balance between support jobs in tourism and the management of the number of short -term rentals that occupy a valuable housing space.
“Short -term rentals are a large industry here that provides many jobs for cleaning,” he said. “But we also need places to live these people.”
Provincial Supervision
Sayne says that adjusting the statute would be faster with the support of the province.
“I think that for each municipality to have to go through this process with all the time of our staff and all our legal time to provide these short -term rental agreements and how to operate this, that is something that could have been incorporated and made more at the provincial level.” She said.
CBC communicated with the Ministry of Tourism but did not receive an answer.
Leclerc in Calabogie does not care about regulations, but he would like them to simplify.
“It simply became this dominant overreach that is not worth continuing,” he said.
Greater Madawaska did not respond to comments requests. But Sayne says what the municipality will report below how similar policies are implemented throughout the province.
“We are following all the situations that other municipalities present and what we must change to ensure that this works better for all.”
