Airbnb tax nets Ottawa $1.1M in 11 months, city says

The City of Ottawa has raked in nearly $1.14million in revenue from Airbnbrentals after it implementeda tax on listings last year.

The municipal accommodation tax on short-term rentalscame into effect on Aug. 1, 2018.

In Ottawa, Airbnb renters are required to pay thefour per centtax on the combined listing price and cleaning fee of a unit.

The city collected $423,000 from the online rental service in the last five months of 2018 and another $715,006 in the first six months of 2019up to June 30, said Wendy Stephanson, deputy city treasurer, in an email to CBC Ottawa.

That revenue was generated from some 3,200 Ottawa properties listed on Airbnb. The money is used to offset city expenditures.

In a statement, Airbnb said it helps "bring additional tourist dollars to local businesses and residents" in the city. The company added that its services bring financial benefits to areas "outside of traditional tourist zones" and give some property owners "the ability to afford to stay in their homes."

Rentalaffordability in question

Some critics, however, say that the potential benefits are outweighed by the company's impact on rental markets across Canada, including in Ottawa.

A Marchrental market study by Prism Economics and Analysisfound 52 per cent of short-term rentals which included all Air BnB listings were within five neighbourhoods, with 36 per cent in the downtown and Lowertown areas.

• Rent in Ottawa out of reach for low-income earners, report finds
• Airbnb 'ghost hotels' keep 1,000+ homes from rental market, report suggests

Meanwhile,80 per cent of Airbnb listings in Somerset and Rideau-Vanier are considered "ghost hotels,"according to Fairbnb Canada, a group that advocates for greater regulation of the home-sharingindustry.

The group's analysis foundmore than 1,000homes and apartments in Ottawawerebeing kept from the city's rental market by landlords who instead listed the properties on short-term rental websites.

The shortage of properties isone of a number of challenges facing renters as rental rates have skyrocketed.