Ottawa hotels ask city to regulate Airbnb

The Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association argues some hosts on the popular room-sharing website Airbnb are operating like businesses and should have to register for a licence, and pay the same fees as the hotel industry.

• Airbnb changes have Ottawa hosts facing new tax reality

"Similar to the taxi business, things will change. We're not against evolution, we're not against their product, we're not against the fact they rent to tourists," said Daniel Lalibert of Larco Hospitality Management Inc., which represents owners of various hotels in the region and across the country.

But the hotels areparticularly concerned with hosts who don't just share their home when they're away, but who operate several, even dozens, of listings for profit.

"We simply want it to be fair. If you set up a business, you pay taxes, you follow the rules," said Lalibert.

The hotel associationisworking with Ottawa city staff and politicians, and urge them to review short-term rentals, such as Airbnb and VRBO, and come up withways to monitor them and get them to remit both HST and tourism fees.

Concerns overfairness, rental housing

In June, the city's economic development branch reported a big rise in what it called "active" Airbnb listings in 2015. The numberdoubled from 566 in January to 1,314 in December.

But Lalibert said,in the Ottawa marketat least, Airbnb is not big competitionfor hotels.

"They're taking some business, depending on the level of the hotel, but it's not dramatic," said Lalibert.

Rather, he says the City of Ottawa should regulate this player in the sharing economy out of a sense of fairness, and to prevent strain on available rental housing whenhomes and condos are instead being usedfor visitor stays.

"It's more than just the hotels. It's a social issue that needs to be addressed," Lalibert argued.

At this point, the City of Ottawa is neither licensing the short-term rental units, nor regulating Airbnb from a land-use perspective, according toRoger Chapman, the chief of bylaw and regulatory services.

Vancouver, Toronto tackling regulation

The Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association is closely watching as other Canadian cities move to regulate short-term rentals such as Airbnb.

• Toronto committee votes to have staff report on regulations early next year
• New Airbnb rules could shut down 1,000 short-term listings in Vancouver, says mayor
• Quebec rules governing home-sharing services went into effect April 15

At the end of October, the Toronto mayor's executive committeevotedto have staff report on proposed regulations forshort-term rental siteslikeAirbnb no later than spring 2017.

Vancouver, meanwhile,is considering allowingshort-term rentals of less than 30 days only in homes that are principal residences. That city struggles with a lack of affordable rental housing.

And, Qubec enacted legislationthis past spring to get online short-term rentals to obtain the same provincial certification as hotel and bed-and-breakfast operators.

For its part, Airbnbhas said it supports regulation.

• Airbnb says Toronto should regulate 'professional' renters

"Airbnb is committed to working with cities across Canada, including Ottawa, to develop smart, easy-to-follow rules that support home sharing," wroteAirbnb'sChristopher Nulty in a statement.

"We believe in paying our fair share. We have agreements in more than 200 jurisdictions globally to collect and remit hotel taxes on behalf of our hosts and guests. We're also working with the Ontario Ministry of Finance to promote consumer awareness during tax season about hosts' reporting obligations."