Short-Term Rental Companies/Platforms

Who Can Apply

Companies facilitating or brokering short-term rental reservations online and receiving payment for this service need licences to operate in Toronto.

Sole-proprietors, partnerships, or corporations can also apply for a short-term rental business licence. Regardless of size, all companies must be licensed and comply with the fees and data-gathering requirements set out in the bylaw.

A licence is not required if the company does not facilitate the reservations of short-term rentals. For example, if a small property management company is collecting fees on behalf of short-term rental operators but not facilitating reservations, the company does not require a licence.

Know The Regulations For Companies

In order to be licensed, a short-term rental company must:

• Verify the full name, address and registration number of operators as listed with the City during registration. Ensure that all listings have valid registration numbers, by checking against the registration numbers published by the City on its Open Data portal
  • Registration numbers must be in the format: STR-0000-XXXXXX
  • Registration numbers must be validated against City’s data before operators are allowed to list short-term rentals
  • The City is developing an Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to connect to the Open Data dataset. Please contact mlsbusinesslicence@toronto.ca for more information on how to check against the dataset
• Prominently display operators’ registration numbers on their online platform.
• Provide a process for removal of listings and cancellation of bookings for listings that do not have valid registration numbers, and a procedure for dealing with problematic operators and responding to complaints
• Cancel all future reservations for unregistered operators within 24 hours from the date of the request.
• Check against a list of registered hotels provided by the City before allowing hotels to claim their exemption from the bylaw.
• Keep the following records and other information as required by the City and provide to the City using a secure format:
  • Name, address and registration number of the operator/host
  • Number of nights rented as a short-term rental
  • Nightly and total price charged for the short-term rental
  • Rental type (entire home rental or just room rentals)
• Maintain records of the number of short-term rental listings or advertisements it removes from its platform for at least three years
• Execute an agreement with the City governing the collection, use, retention and transmission of operator information
• Communicate about the City’s bylaw to all operators listing or advertising their short-term rental with the company, as requested by the City

Application Requirements

Download the application for short-term rental business licence to view the application submission checklist and list of required documents.

Identification

All applications must include two pieces of government-issued identification (one must be photo ID):

• Canadian Passport
• Driver’s Licence
• Canadian Birth Certificate
• Citizenship Card
• Permanent Resident Card
• SIN Card (Social Insurance Number)
• Valid Work Permit

Note:

• First and last names must match on all identification
• Health cards are not accepted
• For sole proprietorship or individual applicants, one piece of ID must provide proof of work status
• Identification is required for all officers/directors listed on the Articles of Incorporation, Corporate Profile or Federal Form 6

Documentation

• A completed Short-Term Rental Business Licence Application
• A signed Data Sharing Agreement (DSA), which provides data sharing instructions and clarifies the role of the company and the City in collecting, maintaining and sharing data as required. Learn more about the DSA.
• A copy of provincial business name certificate and registration or signed franchise agreement
• A Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check issued by a Canadian Police Service within 280 days prior to the application.
• Signed Cyber Security Attestation on company letterhead (Option 1, 2 or 3)
  • Option 1: Where a company is certified under either ISO 27001 or SOC 2 Type II, a signed attestation on company letter head that they meet or exceed the Technical and Organizational Measurements
  • Option 2: Where a client is not certified under either ISO 27001 or SOC 2 Type II, a signed attestation on company letterhead that indicates that they meet or exceed the requirements of the Operations Security Requirements Checklist
  • Option 3: Where a client cannot provide an attestation as noted above, the client will be referred to the City’s information and security office for review

Additional information required for all applications

In addition to the documents and forms listed above, short-term rental companies must provide the following information:

• Ontario business location for service or address of a representative who can legally accept communications
  • Companies based in another country still need to provide an Ontario address as part of the licensing process. This is because the City needs to ensure that there is an address of record in case any legal documents or letters need to be served.
• Name, phone number and email address of person responsible for responding to all communications from City of Toronto staff
• Details of how the company will remove advertisements for a short-term rental if its operator has not registered with the City
• Details of the company’s procedure for dealing with problem operators and responding to complaints
• Staff will review submitted processes and assess against the City’s criteria for removing listings and addressing problem operators

Additional information required from corporations and partnerships

In addition to the documents, forms and information needed from all applicants, corporations need to submit the following:

• A copy of Articles of Incorporation and, if there has been a change to the list of officers and directors, a current Corporate Profile Report.
• A copy of the Partnership Agreement or Certificate and Registration of Partnership
• Two pieces of Government Issued identification for each officer/director/partner
• A Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check issued by a Canadian Police Service within 280 days prior to the application, for each officer/director/partner

If the president, director or officer of the corporation is not able to apply, a designate may apply on their behalf. In addition to the items identified above, the delegate must also provide:

• A letter advising of their signing authority on the corporation letterhead
• Two pieces of their own government issued ID

Data Sharing Agreement

Short-term rental companies are required to send records to the City on a regular basis, using a secure, electronic transfer method that is approved by the City.

The Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) describes the types of data and personal information that may be exchanged between a short-term rental company and the City under the bylaws. The agreement also sets out the requirements regarding the transfer, storage, and protection of that data.

Download a summary of the DSA to view a general outline of the City’s agreement with short-term rental companies. This summary is just for information and does not form part of the agreement. It is the responsibility of the companies to review the full agreement. Download a copy of the full DSA.

Transferring data to the City

Companies need to share and upload data on a monthly basis so that the City can review the data. The City will then invoice the company on a quarterly basis for the ongoing fee of $1.50 for every short-term rental night booked through the company.

Currently, data is transferred to the City using Comma-Separated Values (CSV) files and uploaded to a City server. In the future, data transfer will move to an Application Programming Interface (API).

How To Apply And Pay Application Fee

Please review the information in the sections above on who can apply, regulations for companies, the application requirements and the Data Sharing Agreement.

Applicants can download the application for short-term rental business licence and email mlsbusinesslicence@toronto.ca to receive instructions on how to submit via secure file transfer.

Application fee

Applicants are required to pay an annual licence application fee of $10,000.00 and an ongoing nightly fee of $1.50 for every short-term rental night booked through the company.

Unfortunately, staff cannot reduce fees on a case-by-case basis as the fee is set out in the bylaw.

Once a complete application is received, staff will review the forms and documents and send an invoice number for the application fee. Additional information about the Data Sharing Agreement will also be shared.

Municipal Accommodation Tax

Registered short-term rental operators are required to collect and remit a six per cent (6%) Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) on a quarterly basis.

Short-term rental companies can sign a Voluntary Collection Agreement with the City of Toronto to collect and remit the MAT on behalf of operators. Operators using these companies to list short-term rentals will still need to file MAT reports online.

If short-term rental companies choose not to sign a Voluntary Collection Agreement with the City, then operators using these companies to list short-term rentals, will need to file their MAT report online and collect and remit the MAT themselves.

Learn more about how operators need to collect, file and pay the MAT themselves or via short-term rental companies.

Fines For Bylaw Violations

Residents can contact 311 to submit a complaint about a short-term rental company. If there is a complaint or information about a possible violation, Bylaw Enforcement Officers investigate, educate and/or take enforcement actions.

The goal is to resolve issues and ensure that short-term rental companies are following the bylaw. Each issue is addressed on case-by-case basis to make sure reasonable, fair and appropriate actions are taken. For example, in some cases the issue may be resolved through education. In other cases, further enforcement action is required.

If a short-term rental company does not comply with the bylaw, they are guilty of an offence. If they are issued a ticket and convicted, they may have to pay a fine for the offence set out in the table below.

If the company is issued a summons to court and convicted, they may have to pay a fine up to $100,000 or a daily fine of up to $10,000 for each day the violation continues. In addition they may have to pay a special fine for economic gains from the bylaw violation. If it is a corporation, every director or officer may have to pay a fine of no more than $100,000.

Offence	Fine ($)
Failing to licence a short-term rental company	1000
Advertising, facilitating or brokering an unregistered short-term rental	1000
Failing to remove a listing for an unregistered short-term rental	1000
Failing to keep complete transaction record for 3 years	1000
Failing to keep record of removed short-term rental listing	1000
Discriminating based on enumerated ground	500
Refusing to serve a person accompanied by a service animal	500
Failing to notify the City of a change in licensing information	400
Failing to report non-compliance with screening criteria	300
Making a threat or reprisal for participation in a public process	300
Making a threat or reprisal against unlicensed business	300

Licence Renewal Information

Short-term rental company licences must be renewed annually. The yearly renewal fee is $10,000.

A renewal notice, identifying any documents required to renew the licence, will be mailed to the address on file. Companies need to renew licence within a grace period of 90 days.

If a short-term rental company fails to renew its licence according to the bylaw, the licence will be cancelled, and the company will have to reapply.