City of Ottawa to mandate short-term rental permits April 1

Anyone who wants to list one of their properties as a short-term rental unit in Ottawa will now have to apply for a permit.

Starting Friday, April 1, property owners interested in making their urban principal address or secondary urban residence available for short-term rentals must acquire a permit.

“Short-term rental properties are permitted for primary residences in urban neighbourhoods and rural villages and secondary properties in other rural settings, like a vacation home or cottage,” the City of Ottawa says in a news release.

The permit is meant to provide consumers “protection and peace of mind,” according to the city.

To acquire the permit, property owners must meet the criteria as well as provide the city and customers with:

• Contact information of the property owner, holder or manager
• Proof the property the urban or rural village property is a principal address
• Proof of ownership of a secondary property
• Proof of insurance
• Registration on a short-term rental platform
• Floor plans of the residence, along with all the exits
• Approvals from any condominium corporation or property owner, should the permit applicant be renting the principal residence
• A list of the number of bedrooms to ensure the numbers of guests do not exceed capacity limits
• All the necessary emergency contact information, including 911
• Listing the city’s bylaws to customers such as noise, parking and property maintenance regulations

While short-term rental hosts can hire a manager to oversee their property listing, they must also provide contact information, a criminal record check and proof of insurance.

“Landlords, condominium corporations and housing cooperations may prohibit short-term rentals of their properties,” the news release says. “In order to do so, they must apply to the city for a prohibition.”

Host permits will cost $110, broken down into a $57 administration fee and $53 for the permit. Those permits will expire every two years.

To register as a short-term rental property manager, it'll cost $200, with permits expiring in one year.

Registering a prohibition against a short-term rental will cost $62 but those registrations won't expire. However, it'll also cost the same fee to remove a prohibition.

Platforms will also have to pay a fee to register in Ottawa, where three tiers have been created with differing costs and a three-year expiry. On top of a $57 administration fee, the three tiers will cost the following to register:

• Tier 1 (Fewer than 100 listings): $1,000
• Tier 2 (Between 101 to 500 listing): $2,500
• Tier 3 (More than 500 listings): $5,000

City council passed a new short-term rental by-law in April 2021 to protect housing inventory for Ottawa residents. That by-law features penalties of up to $100,000.