Ensemble Montréal’s mayoral candidate, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, has proposed a policy to prohibit companies from engaging in short-term rentals like Airbnbs while permitting residents to rent out their primary residence for a maximum of 90 days annually. Martinez Ferrada emphasized the distinction between registered companies and residents, expressing the need for separate treatment.
Under the current regulations, residents are allowed to rent out their homes for up to 93 consecutive days between June 10 and September 10. Martinez Ferrada intends to revise this limit to 90 days, applicable throughout the year, and bolster the number of inspectors to 50 within the next two years. These rules were established in March, with city officials committed to monitoring their impact and implementing necessary adjustments.
Montreal has faced challenges regulating short-term rentals, with over half of the approximately 4,000 units available in March deemed illegal. The responsibility to gather evidence and prosecute property owners was previously on inspectors, but now, property owners are required to contest fines similar to traffic offenses.
Inspectors have the authority to impose fines of $1,000 per day for violations, with additional fines of $2,000 for repeat offenses. In response to the proposed policy, Airbnb Canada’s representative, Alex Howell, criticized it as “extreme and shortsighted,” expressing concerns about its potential negative impact on year-round tourism-dependent industries.
As the municipal election approaches, Ensemble Montréal’s leader clarified her stance on short-term rentals after being accused by her opponent of prioritizing tourists over Montreal residents. Martinez Ferrada criticized the existing regulations, arguing that they have inadvertently encouraged illegal operations and failed to differentiate between individual homeowners and companies. Several other municipalities in Quebec, such as Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, and Sherbrooke, allow short-term rentals for up to 90 days annually.
Ensemble Montréal plans to recruit 50 inspectors over the next two years to enforce the proposed regulations, a significant increase from the current number of less than 10 inspectors in Montreal. Projet Montréal’s leader, Luc Rabouin, acknowledged that the new bylaw facilitates the tracking of illegal listings, stating that the presence of an advertisement is sufficient evidence of illegality.
David Wachsmuth, an urban planning professor at McGill University, supported Montreal’s winter ban on short-term rentals for easier enforcement but raised concerns that lifting this ban, as proposed by Ensemble Montréal, may lead to setbacks in regulation. Wachsmuth emphasized the importance of effective solutions to the challenges posed by short-term rentals.