An estimated 107,266 short-term rentals operating in Canada in 2023 could have served as long-term housing, according to a new study from Statistics Canada.
Total listings for short-term rentals increased by more than 60 per cent in Canada from 2017 to 2023, while the number of homes that could have been rented for long-term accommodation grew more than 80 per cent.
“As a result, the share of listings considered as potential long-term dwellings [PLTDs] rose from 27.2 per cent of total listings in 2017 to 30.2 per cent in 2023,” said the study, released July 30.
Yet, the study added, the progression did not follow a linear path, with short-term rental activity declining after the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Total listings on such home-sharing platforms as Airbnb and Vrbo fell 19.2 per cent from 2019 to 2021, while PLTDs decreased by 28.1 per cent over the same two years.
In 2022, even as the short-term rental market started to pick up, the share of PLTDs (25.2 per cent of total listings) was still lower than in 2019 (29.2 per cent), the study said.
The estimated number of PLTDs in Canada last year — 107,266 — is a figure that represents less than one per cent of total housing units in Canada. PLTDs also accounted for a small share of total housing units in Canada’s largest census metropolitan areas.
At the national level, PLTDs accounted for 0.69 per cent of Canadian housing units in 2023. This figure is an all‐time high for Canada, with the previous high of 0.60 per cent occurring in 2019.
These trends differ at the provincial level.
'Different regulatory approaches'
In Ontario, the share of housing units defined as PLTDs more than doubled, jumping from 0.35 per cent in 2022 to an all‐time high of 0.69 per cent in 2023. In Quebec, there was a jump from 0.38 per cent in 2022 to 0.51 per cent in 2023.
However, this did not exceed Quebec’s pre‐pandemic high of 0.61 per cent, which occurred in 2019.
“It is possible that these differences are the result of different regulatory approaches, since Quebec has enacted provincewide [short-term rental] regulations, while regulations have been enacted only at the municipal level in Ontario,” the study said.
At the provincial level, only British Columbia and Prince Edward Island had a share of PLTDs that exceeded one per cent of housing units in 2023.
“This finding aligns with those provinces being the leaders in [short-term rentals], with their [short-term rental] markets claiming the greatest share of revenue within their respective accommodation services subsectors,” the study said.
The share of PLTDs was higher in tourist areas, particularly around ski hills.
In Whistler, B.C., they constituted 35 per cent of all housing units, while in Mont‐Tremblant, Que., their share was 16.4 per cent.
Airbnb questions methodology
Airbnb Canada emailed a statement to Glacier Media Tuesday saying it had concerns with the methodology used in the study. Statistics Canada uses three-year old data in cities such as Toronto, which introduced a robust enforcement and compliance regime in 2021, said Airbnb, noting there are 35,000 short term rentals in that city.
Airbnb has fewer than 8,266 short term rental listings total in Toronto, let alone 8,266 listings that could be potential long-term rentals. All short-term rentals must be registered with the city and operate out of the primary residence of the host, making them unavailable for other long-term residents, Airbnb said.
“Despite some concerns with the methodology used, as the report concludes, the number of short-term rentals that could be used as a potential long-term home is less than one percent of the overall number of homes in Canada — a small fraction of the 22 million homes needed by 2030 to achieve affordability,” said Nathan Rotman, Policy Lead for Airbnb in Canada.
“While we are always willing to work with governments on regulation, the reality is that restricting short-term rentals does not meaningfully help the housing crisis, with Toronto and Vancouver serving as important examples where rent continued to rise despite putting in place some of the strictest regulations in North America.”
A report by Airbnb shows that more than 80 per cent of Vancouver has Airbnb listings but no hotels, where Airbnb hosts are the primary — if not the only — providers of local accommodation and drivers of local tourism.
Another analysis shows that the economic impact of Airbnb in Canada exceeded $10 billion in 2023 and supported 110,000 jobs.
B.C.'s new regulations
Over the past year, the B.C. government has introduced regulations that aim to return short-term rentals to the long-term rental market. As of May 1, a property owner listing a unit or space on a home-sharing platform must be able to prove its their principal residence.
Data sharing between the provincial government and local governments on short-term rentals is expected to begin this summer. By early 2025, a provincial registry will be set up and require platforms to remove listings without valid provincial registry numbers.
“The role of short‐term rentals [STRs] in Canada’s housing challenges remains a subject of ongoing policy debate in many Canadian cities,” the study said.
“While there is a widespread notion that such rentals limit the availability of long‐term housing, empirical analysis of their impacts has produced mixed results.”
The study cited many reasons why a property may be rented as a short-term rental but would never enter the long‐term housing market — for instance, a secondary vacation property rented while the owner resides in their primary residence.
Another example is short-term rental listings made for hotel rooms, three‐season cottages, boats and other units that are not suitable for long‐term housing.
Additionally, there are short-term rental units that primarily serve as long‐term housing “and thus would not add to the housing supply if they were unlisted.”
Examples include individual rooms within a residence; student housing leased long term during the academic year and as a short-term rental unit during the summer; and units listed as short-term rental in the winter by “snowbirds,” who travel south during these months.
“In the cases outlined above, the [short-term rental] unit is not depleting the pool of long‐term dwellings,” the study said. “Instead, it represents new rental activity that would not have otherwise occurred.”
Vancouver regulations began in 2018
In Vancouver, the city first began regulating short-term rentals in April 2018.
Under the bylaw, a person who provides temporary accommodation in a dwelling unit other than a bed and breakfast or hotel is deemed a short-term rental operator and is required to obtain a business licence.
The accommodation must be provided in the operator’s principal residence. The bylaw says an operator can rent their entire home, or a room within that home, for less than 30 consecutive days at a time.
The city's primary goal in bringing in the bylaw was to encourage homeowners to return their properties to the long-term rental market. Vancouver's rental vacancy rate has been below one per cent for several years.
Last fall, city council approved an increase to the annual short-term rental licence fee from $109 to $1,000, effective Jan. 1, 2024. As of July 30, there were 4,727 active short-term rental listings in Vancouver, according to the city’s website.
Note: This story has been updated since first posted to include comments from Airbnb Canada.
