The percentage of short-term rentals in B.C. that could be used as long-term housing nearly doubled from 2017-2023 and is higher than anywhere else in the country, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.
But the number of “potential long-term dwellings” still only make up less than one per cent of all available housing.
“In the housing market, [short-term rentals] still account for a small proportion of the total housing units,” the report authors write.
The release of the report comes as provinces and municipalities have introduced regulations aimed at restricting the number of short-term rentals to increase housing supply.
On May 1, B.C. enacted new rules to restrict short-term rentals to operate within a homeowners’ principal residence, as well as basement suites or laneway homes on the same property.
“The number of short-term rentals in B.C. has ballooned in recent years, removing thousands of long-term homes from the market. That’s why we’re taking strong action to rein in profit-driven mini-hotel operators, create new enforcement tools and return homes to the people who need them,” Premier David Eby said when the legislation was introduced last fall.
But short-term rentals that could be used as long-term housing accounted for less than half a per cent of housing units in Canada’s five largest metro regions in 2021, the latest year for which data was available, according to the report. The rate was highest in Metro Vancouver, at 0.45 per cent.
Those figures align with a 2023 report from the Conference Board of Canada, which found that Airbnb activity in most cities was too small to have a meaningful impact on rental prices.
“The short-term rental market is just not big enough to actually move the price needle,” said Tony Bonen, an executive director at the Conference Board of Canada.
Bonen cautioned that the number of short-term rentals of any type is far too small to have a significant impact on rental prices, calling them “a drop in the bucket” in terms of the supply of housing that’s needed.
“If your goal is to reduce short-term rentals so that rental prices across the market come down, it’s not going to happen,” he said.
The StatCan report focused on short-term rentals that could be used as long-term housing. Units had to be listed for more than 180 days a year and excluded vacation properties like cottages and dedicated vacation homes. The report did not attempt to address housing affordability, noting the complex dynamics of the housing market.
“This paper has focused on [short-term rental] activity within the housing market,” the report stated. “However, it is important to acknowledge the influence of many other factors affecting affordability and supply, including, but not limited to, multiple-property owner investors, the housing supply in relation to population growth, and factors relating to interest rates and financing.”
The city of Vancouver had about 2,400 short-term rental units in 2021 that could have been long-term dwellings — 0.8 per cent of all housing in the city.
It was the highest rate in Metro Vancouver but not in the province.Kamloops, Kelowna and Victoria all had higher rates — 1.4 per cent in Kamloops and 0.9 per cent each in Kelowna and Victoria.
Some tourist destinations, such as Whistler, Sun Peaks, and Tofino, had rates between 20 and 40 per cent. Ski resorts and resort municipalities are excluded from B.C.’s short-term rental regulations.
“The nature of the market as a tourist hot spot likely changes the approach to [short-term rentals] … since it often supports tourism and stimulates the local economy,” the report stated.
Bonen said the remote locations and limited accommodation options at some of B.C.’s popular resort towns likely played a large role in the higher proportion of short-term rentals that could be used as long-term residences.
“Short-term rentals have come to fill that gap in some of those harder to reach areas,” he said. “That’s a balancing act that needs to be kept in mind in resort communities.
“The big social and policy challenge is making rent affordable for Canadians. And there is no easy solution to get there,” Bonen said. “Regulating short-term rentals can be part of the policy mix, but it’s not going to get you much bang for your buck on its own.”
