City of Kitchener considering licenses for lodging homes and short-term rentals

Property owners in Kitchener will have to wait a little longer to find out if they’ll be required to have a license to operate as a lodging home or short-term rental.

City council has deferred making a decision until later this month.

“I think the robustness of the dialog today shows that this is important for the community,” Councillor Paul Singh explained after council pushed back the ‘Shared Accommodation Bylaw’ until June 24.

The city estimates approximately 300 lodging houses and 800 short-term rentals are currently unregistered. That means no city inspections or requirements are in place.

The updated bylaw would see the municipality license short-term rentals like Airbnb and Virbo’s in an effort to address:

• Enhanced safety standards
• Community impact and integration
• Quality assurance
• Accountability and compliance
• Reasonable fees for all types of shared accommodations

At Monday’s meeting, council expressed concerns over the initial proposal including potential license fees, the amount of bathrooms required in a dwelling and the required ‘shared space.’ Fees could range from $450 to $750.

Nathan Rotman, with Airbnb Canada, said they they work with hosts when municipalities implement new requirements.

“I think Kitchener has actually come up with a fairly reasonable approach to how they're approaching this,” he said. “Generally, the first step is some kind of registration licensing, permitting system, [and] any other business license to make sure hosts understand how to get those licenses.”

If approved, the bylaw would be rolled out in stages, allowing property owners time to prepare. Intake for license application is set to happen between October 2024 and January 2025. Then, over the next three years, the program would be monitored with a review planned in 2028.

"Putting a bylaw in place like this really allows us to both recognize the importance of housing as a human right and making sure people have a good safe accommodation," said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic."From my perspective, most important was that there were a number of concrete ideas that were put forward that staff can take away between now and council day. Ultimately this will help ensure that fire has access, that bylaw has access and so that, you know, in that kind of shared accommodation, safety is a priority."

There is a long list of proposed recommendations and amendments to go through, so council has asked city staff to come back with the requested information ahead of the June 24 meeting.