Canada will take action in the coming weeks to ease a rental-unit shortage exacerbated by short-term rental (STR) platforms, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Oct. 17. Freeland said the government is examining options to ensure more STRs become available as long-term rentals. The announcement came as British Columbia the prior day said it was creating rules to regulate short-term rentals by requiring hosts to register with the province, increasing fines for breaking local rules and restricting rentals to only a portion of the principal residence. In that province, there are 28,000 daily active short-term rental listings, up 20% from a year ago.
Reuters (10/17/23) David Ljunggren; Nivedita Balu