Toronto

When deciding whether to become an Airbnb host, it's important for you to understand the laws in your city. As a platform and marketplace we do not provide legal advice, but we want to provide some useful links that may help you better understand laws and regulations in Toronto. This list is not exhaustive, but it should give you a good start in understanding your local laws. If you have questions, contact the City of Toronto’s Short-Term Rentals Office or other city agencies directly, or consult a local lawyer or tax professional.

Table of contents

• Short-term rental regulations
• Hosting requirements
• Renewing your registration
• Night limits for hosting
• Registration data-sharing
• Taxes

Short-term rental regulations

Under the City of Toronto Short-Term Rental Bylaw (PG24.8), short-term rentals are permitted in Toronto if your listing is your principal residence. Hosts are required to register with the city and post their registration number on their listing, or claim a valid reason for exemption, in order to comply with the ordinance.

Listings without a valid registration number or exemption posted will be blocked from hosting short-term stays (less than 28 nights at a time) in Toronto.

You can learn more about what’s required for your listing in the sections below.

• Hosting your principal residence - entire home or private room
• Hosting as a renter or lessee
• Hosting a secondary suite or laneway suite
• Hosting a secondary residence, like an investment property or vacation home
• Operating a bed and breakfast
• Operating a hotel or motel
• Exclusively hosting stays of 28 or more nights

For further details about what’s required to host in Toronto, visit the City of Toronto’s Planning & Development Department’s Short-Term Rentals page.

Hosting your principal residence - entire home or private room

If you host your principal residence, you’ll need to register your listing with the City of Toronto. You can do this on the city’s website. Your principal residence is where you live and the address you use for bills, identification, taxes and insurance. You can short-term rent in any housing type, for example house, apartment or condominium, as long as it is your principal residence.

To register, you’ll need to provide the following:

• Contact information and address
• Details of your short-term rental
• Name and telephone number of an emergency contact who will be available 24 hours a day during rental periods.
  • Before submitting this information to the city, you must obtain consent from your contact(s) using the Consent for Alternate (Emergency) Contact Persons PDF form
• Government-issued ID: You will need a government-issued identification to demonstrate that you are over the age of 18 and to show evidence of your principal residence. Only the following IDs, which include your address, are acceptable:
  • Ontario Driver’s License or
  • Ontario Photo Card
• Registration fee: Registration costs $50 and can only be paid with a valid credit card

Once you submit your registration, the city will review your application. If your application is approved, a registration number will be generated and emailed to you within five (5) business days, which you’ll need to add to your listing to comply with the requirements.

If your application is denied, the city will contact you and you will have an opportunity to provide evidence and information to explain why your registration should not be denied.

Hosting as a renter or lessee

If you’re a renter or lessee, you are eligible to register if the unit is your principal residence. You should comply with your responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and your lease agreement.

Hosting a secondary suite or laneway suite

You can short-term rent a secondary suite or laneway suite if you are the principal resident of the suite. Secondary suites must be permitted by zoning bylaws and comply with Building Code and Fire Code requirements.

Hosting a secondary residence, like an investment property or vacation home

Second homes, investment properties and vacation rentals are not eligible to register as short-term rentals. If you’d like to continue receiving bookings, you can switch to long-term stays (28 or more nights). You can update this in your availability settings.

Operating a bed and breakfast

B&Bs are subject to the rules for short-term rentals, and must register with the city and display a registration number on their listing.

Operating a hotel or motel

If you host a hotel or motel, your listing is exempt from registration.

Exclusively hosting stays of 28 or more nights

If you only accept bookings for 28 or more nights at a time, you are not required to register your listing or take any action on Airbnb. If you’d like to switch to long-term stays, you can update this in your availability settings.

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Hosting requirements

Once you have registered as a short-term rental operator, you must:

• Display your registration number on all listings
• Provide your guests information about the emergency contact and instructions on how to contact 911 emergency service
• Provide guests with an emergency exit plan
• Keep the following records related to your short-term rental and provide to the city upon request:
  • The number of nights your short-term rental was rented
  • The nightly and total price you charged for each rental
  • The rental type e.g. the entire home rental or just room rental
• Collect and remit a four percent Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) on all rentals that are less than 28 nights

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Renewing your registration

Your registration is valid for one year from the date that your registration is approved and must be renewed annually. You can renew your registration online, and there is a renewal fee of $50.

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Night limits for hosting

If you host your entire home, local laws in Toronto require that you only host guests in your place for a maximum of 180 nights per calendar year. Private rooms are exempt from this requirement.

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Registration data-sharing

Airbnb is required to share some short-term rental listing information of hosts in order to comply with the city’s Short-Term Rental Bylaw. The information shared can only be used to make sure your listing is in compliance with the short-term rental regulations, and will not be shared with any other government agencies.

Airbnb’s obligation to share data

The obligation to share data only refers to listings that register under the city’s Short-Term Rental Bylaw.

No data will be shared regarding the following accommodations:

• Listings that claim an exemption as a hotel or motel
• Listings that exclusively host stays of 28 nights or more

Data that Airbnb will share with the City of Toronto

Airbnb will share the following transaction data for listings that provide a short-term rental registration number:

• Name
• Short-term rental address
• Registration number
• Number of nights the listing was rented
• Check-in/check-out dates
• Nightly and total price charged
• Entire unit or partial unit
• Amount of the transaction, if any, that is exempt from taxation
• Whether the host has agreed to Airbnb remitting the MAT for the transaction

The obligation to report data to the City of Toronto is a continuing one.

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Taxes

The City of Toronto imposes a four (4) percent Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) for stays of 28 nights or less. Airbnb will collect and remit the MAT beginning January 1, 2021, and will provide more information to hosts when this process is available. For more information about the MAT, visit the City's Short-Term Rentals page.

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