Short-Term Rental Operators/Hosts

Know The Regulations

• You are only allowed to short-term rent your principal residence.
  • This is the residence where you live and the address you use for bills, identification, taxes and insurance.
  • You can only have one principal residence at a time, therefore you cannot legally run more than one short-term rental.
• You can be a homeowner or a renter in any housing type, for example house, apartment or condominium, etc.
  • You should ensure that you are allowed, by your condominium or landlord, to short-term rent your residence.
• You can rent up to three bedrooms in your principal residence for an unlimited number of nights per year or the entire home for a maximum of 180 nights per calendar year.
• Your home must be in a residential area in the city.
  • If you are a Bed and Breakfast (B&B) operator, you can continue to operate under existing zoning permissions for “tourist homes”.
• You can host a short-term rental in a secondary suite or laneway suite, as long as the suite is your principal residence.
  • A secondary suite is a self-contained and separate living accommodation where food preparation and sanitary facilities are provided for the exclusive use of the occupants. This is located within a larger house (for example, a basement apartment).
  • A laneway suite is a self-contained residential unit located on the same lot as a larger house, and generally located in the rear yard.  A laneway suite must be next to a public laneway.
  • If you reside in the main portion of house, you are not permitted to separately short-term rent the secondary suite or laneway suite.

Who Can Register

To short-term rent, you must be:

• 18 years or older
• using your principal residence in Toronto
• able to demonstrate that you live at your principal residence

Homeowners

• As a homeowner you can short-term rent your principal residence only. This is the home where you live and the address you use for bills, identification, taxes, and insurance.
• If you have an insurance policy, you should understand the implication of operating a short-term rental. You may wish to ask your insurance company about the appropriate insurance product for short-term rentals.

Tenants

• As a tenant you can short-term rent your home as long as it is your principal residence.
• You should be aware of your responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and your lease agreement with your landlord.

Multiple individuals living in the same home

• If you are living in the same home with other individuals (for example, as two tenants), then each one of you may register the same home as your short-term rental, as long as the home is your principal residence.
• As short-term rental operators, each one of you is responsible for ensuring that your entire home is rented to a maximum of 180 nights per year.
• If your entire home is rented out for more than 180 nights per year, then each operator at your home may be charged with an offence under the bylaw.

Check If Your Home Is Eligible

You can short-term rent in any housing type, for example house, apartment or condominium, as long as it is your principal residence. You can rent up to three bedrooms in your principal residence for an unlimited number of nights per year or the entire home for a maximum of 180 nights per year.

Definitions of Areas of Principal Residence

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Apartment

• Apartment units are usually rented by individuals and are in a multi-unit residential building or a mixed-use building. The buildings are usually operated by property management companies.
• You should be aware of your responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and your lease agreement with your property management company.

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Condominium

• If you live in a condominium, you can short-term your home as long as it is your principal residence.
• Note that some condominium corporations have their own bylaws regarding short-term rentals, including prohibiting short-term rentals. It is your responsibility to understand and follow the rules set out by your condominium.
• It is the responsibility of condominium property managers to notify the City of bylaws prohibiting or limiting short-term rentals at their properties. To inform the City, please contact the Short-Term Rentals team at ShortTermRentals@toronto.ca, Monday to Friday. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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The entire house and entire unit in the building

• The entire house consists of bedroom(s), bathroom, kitchen, and a separate dedicated entrance (excluding secondary suites/units) and can be short-term rented for up to 180 nights total per year.
• If there are two or more operators for the same address, all operators can only rent the entire home for a maximum of 180 nights per year combined.

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A room in the house and room(s) within the unit

• A room in the house is considered a private bedroom. Guests staying in a room may share common amenities within the unit (e. bathroom, kitchen). The access and entrance to the unit is shared.
• Operators are permitted to short-term rent a maximum of three rooms at the same time, for an unlimited number of nights per year.

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Main floor, second floor, third flour and fourth floor units

• Main floor, second floor, third floor and fourth floor units are self-contained and separate living accommodations where food preparation and sanitary facilities are provided for the exclusive use of the occupants. These are located within a larger house.

Bed and Breakfast (B&B)

• Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) continue to operate under existing zoning permissions for Tourist Homes.
• B&Bs will be subject to the rules for short-term rentals and must register with the City.

Investment property

• Only your principal residence can be rented out short-term.
• Secondary or investment properties can be rented out long-term.

How To Register And Pay Registration Fee

Registration and payment for your short-term rental need to be completed online.

During the registration you will need to certify the information provided, declare that your residence meets the Ontario Fire Code and the Ontario Building Code, and authorize the collection of information.

Register Your Short-Term Rental

If you have any questions, please contact the Short-Term Rentals team at ShortTermRentals@toronto.ca or 416-395-6600, Monday to Friday. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

What you need to register

When registering online, you need to provide the City with information, including

• a valid government-issued identification (ID) which include your address
  • only Ontario Driver’s Licence or Ontario Photo Card are accepted (more information below)
• contact information and address
  • your name and address on the registration must match your government-issued ID
• details of your short-term rental, including description of the type of building your rental is located in and which parts of the home you will short-term rent
• name and telephone number of an alternate (emergency) contact who will be available 24 hours a day during rental periods.

Note: Before submitting information to the City, you must obtain consent from your contact(s) using the Consent for Alternate (Emergency) Contact Persons form. It is your responsibility to ensure that your alternate (emergency) contact has consented before you submit their contact information. Please keep a record of this consent.

Government-issued identification

You need a government-issued identification (ID) 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 accepted:

• Ontario Driver’s Licence or
• Ontario Photo Card

The name(s) used in your registration application must match your ID.

Your government issued ID (Ontario Driver’s License or Ontario Photo Card) must be valid and in good standing.

If you do not have the required government-issued ID, you need to obtain it before registration. This may involve updating a home address on a current licence, converting an out-of-province driver’s licence to Ontario, or applying for an Ontario Photo Card. Note that it may take four – six weeks to receive your Ontario Photo Card.

Registration fee

You are required to pay a registration fee of $55.35 in 2024. The registration fee is subject to an annual increase.

This is a non-refundable registration fee and is valid for one year from the time your registration has been approved. Fees can be paid using only a valid credit card. Debit cards, Visa Debit or Visa gift cards are not accepted by the online registration system.

Please note that you are not eligible to register your short-term rental if your registration was denied, revoked or refused in the last 12 months. For example, if your application for a short-term rental registration was finally denied, revoked or refused on January 5, 2021, you will need to wait a year, and the earliest you can apply again would be on January 6, 2022.

What Happens After You Register

After you provide your information and make payment, the City will validate the information and review your application.

If your application is approved, a registration number will be generated and emailed to you, along with a Good Operator Guide. The guide was last updated in May 2023.

The City aims to process your application as soon as possible, however the City experiences a higher than normal volume of applications at times. While some applications are processed and approved automatically, others may require additional review and/or an inspection of the property prior to approval, which may lead to delays in processing your application. Depending on the volume of applications, processing time may exceed 90 days following submission of applications.

Please remember that you can short-term rent your home in Toronto, only if you are a registered operator. The valid City-issued registration number must be included in all your advertised listings.

If your registration is denied

The City can deny your registration application based on the eligibility criteria, and will inform you of its intention to deny the registration. You will then have an opportunity to provide evidence and information to explain why your registration should not be denied.

Please note that you are not eligible to register your short-term rental if your registration was denied, revoked or refused in the last 12 months. For example, if your application for a short-term rental registration was finally denied, revoked or refused on January 5, 2021, you will need to wait a year, and the earliest you can apply again would be on January 6, 2022.

Comply With The Regulations

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

• post the City-issued short-term registration number on all your advertisements and listings
• provide your guests information about the alternate (emergency) contact and instructions on how to contact the 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 six per cent (6%) Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) on all rentals that are less than 28 consecutive days.

Advertising and listing your short-term rental

Download the frequently asked questions on advertising and listing short-term rentals online.

Upon receiving your City-issued short-term rental registration number, you must post this number on all your advertising and listings. Any invoice, contract, receipt, or similar document related to your short-term rental must include your short-term rental registration number.

When advertising or listing your short-term rental, ensure that the information in your listing is an exact match with the information on your short-term rental registration with the City. Examples of incorrect listing information that does not match registration data may include operators using nick names instead of their full name as listed on government-issued identification, using incorrect postal codes, adding in building names rather than street addresses, not including unit numbers, or placing unit numbers in the wrong field etc.

If the information on your listing does not match the registration information, or if your listing has missing or inaccurate information, then this could lead to the short-term rental company removing your listing and/or cancelling your reservations. To avoid this, check that your:

• short-term rental registration number is entered correctly
• address is displayed in full, including the unit number (basement, upper, lower etc.) and postal code
• name on the advertisement or listing is an exact match with your name used for registration (name as listed on your Ontario Driver’s License or Ontario Photo Card)
• expiry date is entered correctly, if you are a new registrant
• new expiry date is entered correctly, if you have renewed your short-term rental registration

As part of ongoing compliance audits, the City uses data discovery techniques to validate short-term rental activity in Toronto. The City also works closely with short-term companies to identify and remove listings that do not have a valid registration number; has missing, inaccurate or incomplete information; or are not in compliance with the bylaw.

If your short-term rental listing has been delisted, please contact str-compliance@toronto.ca and include the following information in your email:

1. Link to your short-term rental listing
2. Your full legal name as listed on your Ontario Driver’s License or Ontario Photo Card
3. Address of your short-term rental property
4. Your short-term rental registration number
5. The information sent in the email from your short-term rental company explaining why your listing was removed

Once the issue of missing, inaccurate or incomplete listing information has been addressed, operators need to submit a screenshot of their updated listing so that the City can verify and approve. Operators can then proceed with relisting their short-term rental once the City has provided approval.

If you have issues updating your listing, please contact the short-term rental company that you are using (for example, Airbnb or Booking.com). The City does not have access to your listing and is not able to update and correct your listing on your behalf.

Updating your registration

You must inform the City within six days if any of the information that you provided during registration changes. This includes changes in phone number, email, and alternate (emergency) contact name or contact information and changes in your identification number or type (e.g. from Driver’s Licence to Photo Card). Please contact the Short-Term Rentals team at ShortTermRentals@toronto.ca or 416-395-6600, Monday to Friday. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

As a reminder, please do not send personal information, such as identification or credit card numbers via regular email.

If you are moving, then you must inform the City so that your short-term rental registration can be closed. If you want to short-term rent your new principal residence, then you will need to submit a new application to register your new address.

How To Renew or Cancel Your Registration

Your registration is valid for one year from when your application is approved. Please renew every year on that same date or up to six days in advance. A notice of renewal along with instructions will be emailed to you before your registration renewal date.

Renew Your Short-Term Rental Registration

How to renew

To continue short-term renting your home in Toronto, you must renew your registration online and pay a renewal fee using a credit card. The renewal fee for 2023 is $55.35, which is subject to an annual increase. To complete the online renewal, you will need:

• short-term rental registration number (in the format: STR-0000-XXXXXX)
• government issued identification (ID) used during registration (Ontario Driver’s Licence or Ontario Photo Card)
• credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express)

Who can renew

You can renew your short-term rental registration if:

• your short-term rental property is your principal residence. During renewal, the address on your ID will be checked to confirm that your short-term rental property is your principal residence.
• you are eligible to hold a registration according to the screening criteria.
• you submitted all your Municipal Accommodation Tax reports and payments.

If any of your information has changed, such as email address, phone number, alternate contact information or information on your Ontario Driver’s Licence or Ontario Photo Card, you will need to update it before renewal. Contact the Short-Term Rental Team at ShortTermRentals@toronto.ca or 416-395-6600, Monday to Friday. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

When to renew

You can renew your registration up to six days in advance of your registration renewal date. For example, if your renewal date is November 2, you can renew from October 27 onwards. Renewing your registration in advance will not change your annual renewal date.

If you do not renew your registration and submit payment by 11:59 p.m. on your renewal date, you cannot short-term rent your home until you renew your registration and make a payment. If you continue to short-term rent without a valid short-term rental registration, you may be subject to enforcement action.

Please note that if payment is not received by your registration renewal date the cumulative late fees below will apply:

• $10.42 for renewals 1 to 30 days after the registration renewal date
• $76.90 for renewals 31 to 60 days after the registration renewal date
• $148.57 for renewals 61 to 90 days after the registration renewal date

After 90 days, your registration will be automatically cancelled and you will be required to apply for a new registration to continue to short-term rent. You will need to post this new registration number on all your listings.

Cancelling your registration

If you would like to cancel your short-term rental registration, please email the Short-Term Rentals team at ShortTermRentals@toronto.ca. You will need to provide the following information:

• short-term rental registration number (in the format: STR-0000-XXXXXX)
• address registered as the short-term rental
• name of the short-term rental operator

You must request the cancellation of your own short-term rental registration. Another individual or organization cannot request to cancel the registration on your behalf.

You will still be responsible for remitting any Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) from your guest bookings till your registration is cancelled.

Pay Your Municipal Accommodation Tax

As a registered short-term rental operator, you are required to collect and remit a six per cent (6%) Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) on rental revenues. The MAT payment is due on a quarterly basis, within 30 days of the end of the quarter. You are required to file a MAT report online for each reporting period, even if your short-term rental was not rented out.

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. If you are using these companies to advertise your short-term rental, you can allow the company to collect and remit the MAT on your behalf but will still need to file your MAT report online.

If your short-term rental company chooses not to sign a Voluntary Collection Agreement with the City, then you will need to file your MAT report online and collect and remit the MAT yourself.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the correct amount of MAT is collected and remitted to the City. The City may revoke your short-term rental registration or deny registration renewal if you fail to report and remit the MAT.

Learn more about filing the MAT report, making payments, HST, interest and due dates.

Screening Criteria For Registration And Renewal

The City shall deny an application for, or a renewal of a short-term rental operator registration, where the applicant or registrant has:

1. Had a conviction at any time of operating a short-term rental that is not the operator’s principal residence
2. Had a conviction at any time of operating a short-term rental without being registered
3. Had a conviction at any time of providing inaccurate or false information upon registration or in response to any request for information made by Municipal Licensing and Standards (ML&S)
4. Had a conviction within the preceding five years for failing to provide evidence within ten days of a request from ML&S that the property registered for short-term rental is the operator’s principal residence
5. Been convicted of two or more offences within the preceding five years related to the property for which the operator is seeking registration under:
   1. Chapter 489: Turfgrass and Prohibited Plants
   2. Chapter 547: Licensing & Registration of Short-term Rentals
   3. Chapter 548: Littering and Dumping
   4. Chapter 591: Noise
   5. Chapter 629: Property Standards
   6. Zoning under Ontario Planning Act, section 67(1)
6. Has outstanding orders related to the property for which the operator is seeking registration under:
   1. Chapter 489: Turfgrass and Prohibited Plants
   2. Chapter 548: Littering and Dumping
   3. Chapter 591: Noise
   4. Chapter 629: Property Standards
7. Had the City perform remedial action within the preceding five years related to the property for which the operator is seeking registration under:
   1. Chapter 489: Turfgrass and Prohibited Plants
   2. Chapter 548: Littering and Dumping
   3. Chapter 629: Property Standards
8. Been convicted of any offence within the preceding five years under the:
   1. Ontario Fire Code
   2. Ontario Building Code
9. Any overdue bylaw fines, within the preceding five years, unless the applicant provides proof that such fines have been subsequently paid or a court ordered extension of time for payment has been granted.

Despite these screening criteria, if a registration has been previously issued or renewed and the applicant’s or registrant’s record discloses no new breach of the screening criteria, the registration may be issued or renewed.

View Open Data and Program Data

Open Data

Data related to the active status of short-term rental operator registrations are available at Open Data: Short-Term Rentals Registration. As of July 6, this dataset contains the registration numbers, full address (including street number, street name and unit, if applicable), property type (for example, condominium and single or semi-detached house), ward numbers, ward names and first three digits of the postal code for all active short-term rental registrations. Operator names and contact information are not included.

The information is used by short-term rental companies to enhance the operator verification process and ensure that all listings have valid registration numbers, as well as improve transparency in the program. This is also expected to reduce the number of unpermitted listings that may be found on short-term rental company websites and reduce the number of listings that may be removed due to the City’s compliance audits.

An operator’s name, e-mail address, contact telephone number, short-term rental address and details related to a property’s use as a short-term rental are considered business identity information and not personal information under sections 2(2.1) and (2.2) of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Program Data

The City provides key program data related to short-term rental operator registration, registration renewal and enforcement activities. This data will be updated monthly.

The following table provides data related to short-term rental operator registration and registration renewal. This information was last updated on March 1, 2024:

Operator registration and registration renewal	Year to Date (January 1, 2024 – February 29, 2024)	Total to Date August 31, 2020 – February 29, 2024)
Registration applications received	873	18,094
Registration applications approved	840	8,394
Registration applications created in error, cancelled by operator or cancelled for non-payment of renewal.	525	5,225
Registration applications denied	174	1,938
Registration revoked	227	1,426
Registration renewal applications processed	626	7,196
Registration renewal applications refused	0	98
Registration and registration renewal applications under review	777	997

Note: The Total to Date for registration is effective August 31, 2020. Also, the number of registration applications received will not be equal to the sum of all the application statuses in the Year to Date column, as applications may have come in during a different time period. For example, the number of registration applications approved in May 2024 might include registration applications that were received in August 2023.

The following table provides data related to short-term rental operator enforcement activities conducted by the City. This information was last updated on March 1, 2024:

Enforcement	Year to Date (January 2024 – February 29, 2024)	Total to Date (January 2021 – February 29, 2024)
Number of service requests/complaints received	349	3,982
Total number of open service requests/complaints	101	127
Total number of closed service requests/complaints	247	3,823
Number of charges submitted to the courts	2	159
Number of charges resolved by the courts	0	147

Note: The Total to Date for service requests/complaints and charges is effective January 1, 2021.

Fines For Bylaw Violations

Residents can contact 311 to submit a complaint about a short-term rental operator. 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 operators 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 short-term rental operators do 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 operators are 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 register a short-term rental	1000
Advertising, facilitating or brokering an unregistered short-term rental	1000
Failing to remove a listing for an unregistered short-term rental	1000
Renting or advertising property that is not a principal residence	1000
Advertising a short-term rental without a registration number	1000
Renting an entire unit for more than 180 days	700
Failing to provide evidence of a principal residence	700
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 or registration information	400
Failing to provide emergency contact information to a guest	400
Failing to provide information regarding 9-1-1 service to a guest	400
Failing to provide a diagram of exits from the building	400
Obstructing an authorized inspection	400
Making a threat or reprisal for participation in a public process	300
Making a threat or reprisal against an unlicensed business	300
Fail to keep complete transaction record for 3 years	300
Failing to provide transaction records within 30 days of a request from the City	300
Failing to report non-compliance with screening criteria	300

Accessibility Accommodation

If you require an accessibility-related accommodation to view notices and content related to Short-Term Rentals, please contact us at ShortTermRentals@toronto.ca or 416-395-6600, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The City will provide you with an alternate format, or provide assistance to support you with understanding the content.

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