Calgary will move ahead with changes to how it deals with short-term rentals (STRs), in what many councillors felt was a balanced approach to the industry.

The changes, informed by research done in partnership with the University of Calgary, were unanimously approved during the Dec. 17 Regular Meeting of Calgary city council.

Among the changes was a moratorium on new STRs in non-primary residences when Calgary’s purpose-built rental vacancy rate is less than 2.5 per cent. Further, there will be different categories for STRs in a primary residence and a non-primary residence. They’ll also try to close the duration gap, extending the STR definition to 180 days.

Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian, who moved the recommendations, said that even with these strengthened regulations, Calgary is not on the cutting edge of governing STRs. She noted other cities with outright bans and deeper restrictions like only allowing them at primary residences.

“Even in approving this, I think we would have some of the more lax short-term rental regulations,” she said.

“I think we have the right balance here. I think people probably want more. Some people might want less, but I do think that this is as close to fair as we can get, and I appreciate all the experts who weighed in on this.”

Alex Howell, Airbnb’s policy lead in Canada, had hoped that Calgary city council would have seen the “massive impact” it was going to have on the local short term rental market.

“These considerations will have huge impacts on the tourism and hospitality sector,” she told LWC.

“Airbnb drove about $1.1 billion in economic impact and 11,000 jobs across Alberta last year. More than half of that’s in Calgary. It’s more than just posting to the platform. That’s impact to restaurants, retail and other tourist-related industries.”

The hospitality sector in Calgary has expressed to city council and administration a greater desire for equity in the market in terms of rules around STRs.

Tourism downturn in other Canadian markets

Howell said that the impacts were felt in BC this past summer, where she said tourism was down between 50 to 70 per cent. BC has limited short-term rentals to primary residences

“The Chamber of Commerce there and other business organizations as well as a number of the wineries, specifically pointed to the lack of short-term rental availability,” Howell said.

“We know when short-term rentals are harder to find, hotels can charge more. That dissolves people from visiting they decide to spend their tourist dollars somewhere else.”

Howell also said that even the researchers’ data showed that short-term rentals wouldn’t have a big impact on the local housing market. Further, she said that previous research by the Conference Board of Canada showed that very few non-primary short-term rentals ever make it into the long-term residency pool.

Ultimately, she said that the Calgary rules limit the potential spectrum of choices available to visitors, or those here for work or to study.

“If you’re traveling with a family, or you’re traveling with somebody who has a particular need, sometimes that hotel is not the best option for you,” Howell said.

“So, when there’s a lack of availability, you’re absolutely going to see a downturn in travel coming into the city.”

Howell said stifling regulations could mean that more operators will go underground and advertise on places like Kijiji or on Facebook Marketplace where there are no checks in place.

Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer said he’s glad the City put the work into learning more about the local STR market to find the right solution for Calgary.

“I love the fact that hard questions are being asked on both sides of this. I think this is a classic good governance conversation where we are kind of ruffling some feathers on both perspectives of this issue, and ultimately, I see this as us, as governors, policymakers trying to help the evolution of this market,” he said.  

“We want to thread that needle of allowing it to grow and having the freedoms to be able to continue to offer what it offers, because it offers an awful lot, but also at the same time, make sure that it doesn’t grow unchecked and cause a lot of the same concerns and issues that it has caused in other jurisdictions.”

One change made to the amendments was to have them go into effect in April rather than on January 1, 2025.