Winnipeg takes another step toward new short-term rental rules

The city's public service has been tasked with creating a new bylaw regulating short-term rentals after Winnipeg city council voted in favour of bringing in the new rules.

Following hours of debate and delegations at Winnipeg City Hall Thursday, a majority of city councillors voted in favour of putting new regulations in place.

"We certainly are not debating anything today that should surprise anybody," Mayor Scott Gillingham said during the council meeting. "In fact, most major cities in North America already have regulations around short-term rentals and the short-term rental sector."

He pointed to the discussions over new rules for short-term rentals in Halifax this week.

"Nothing being proposed today is so radical or out of step with what is happening in other municipalities and other jurisdictions."

Council heard these regulations will limit short-term rentals to no more than 30 continuous nights, and allow Winnipeg residents or those with a short-term rental accommodations license to rent three non-primary properties on the condition that they own the properties on Feb. 23, 2023.

The new regulations will also require a five per cent accommodation tax to be applied to the purchase price of the short-term rental booking, and will limit the number of adults staying in any short-term rentals to two per bedroom.

Council also adopted several amendments to the proposed regulations brought forward by Gillingham. Among them, council adopted a recommendation to call on the Province of Manitoba to review and amend The Condominium Act to allow for conflict resolution.

Michael Juce, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, told council Thursday he was pleased to see the recommendations for these regulations, but said his association wants to make sure the new rules will be followed.

"I also want to stress again how important it will be for the regulations to be accompanied by strong and meaningful enforcement," he said. "We need to ensure that the enforcement piece is well-thought-out, well-resourced."

Michelle Finley, who spoke on behalf of the Manitoba Association of Short-Term Rental Owners, said while the association supports regulations, they are concerned about the new rules the city is considering.

"We feel that the proposed bylaw is too much too fast due to the restrictions on the number of units allowed per owner, and the banning of short-term rental accommodations in non-primary residence," she said.

Following the delegations, Gillingham said there is still a while yet before any regulations actually take effect.

"Nobody is asking for this to be implemented immediately, in fact, this process is a step in the process today," Gillingham told council.

The mayor said the public service now has 180 days to develop a new bylaw including these regulations and bring it back to council for a vote.