British Columbia's largest real estate organization has called for more exemptions to short-term rental rules as the province begins to clamp down on listings by platforms such as Airbnb ahead of the busy summer travel season.
Restrictions aimed at curbing Airbnb and other short-term rentals have caused "a series of economic challenges," including a shortage of rooms for tourists, patients needing medical care and construction and entertainment industry workers, the B.C. Real Estate Association said in a statement.
The province should allow local governments to designate specific properties or zones for short-term rentals, the association said. The government should also fully exempt strata hotels and timeshare properties, rentals near hospitals to accommodate traveling patients and short-term rentals needed for cast and crew on location for film and television productions.
"In BC’s current tariff- and trade-challenged environment, provincial priorities need to adapt," Trevor Hargreaves, the association’s senior vice-president of government relations, marketing and communications, said in a statement. "With the current geopolitical environment expected to drive up domestic tourism this summer, now is the time to consider implementation of much-needed changes."
The province has no plans to loosen the restrictions, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon told the Business in Vancouver news website.
“The suggestion that we provide exemptions would make sense only if we had a complete ban on short-term rentals, but that’s not the case,” Kahlon said in response to the association's statement. “Short-term rentals are available in communities throughout the province."
The Short-term Rental Accommodations Act passed last year aims to increase the province's supply of long-term rental housing by limiting short-term rentals to a landlord's principal residence in communities with more than 10,000 people.
The call for policy changes comes as platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo face a Monday deadline under the law to start taking down listings from hosts that aren't registered with the province. Platforms face potential penalties unless they cancel unregistered hosts' bookings by June 23.
The curbs on short-term housing also come against the backdrop of a persistent hotel room shortage in the province, with 20,000 more rooms needed in greater Vancouver over the next 25 years to meet projected demand, according to the Destination Vancouver, the city's tourism board.
B.C. hotels are expected to be especially strained this summer as Canadians vacation closer to home instead of going to the United States, due to the U.S.-Canada trade dispute that has sparked heightened nationalistic fervor across the country.
“With more Canadians travelling locally, and major events like the FIFA World Cup 2026 on the horizon, B.C. needs more affordable options for travelers, not fewer,” Airbnb Canada policy lead Alex Howell said in a statement to local media this month.