A City of Edmonton report on short-term rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo is receiving scathing reviews from the hotel industry. City staff say concerns around the rentals are overblown and recommend maintaining the status quo. But council decided to ignore that advice and is looking to regulate short-term rentals. Ward Papastew Coun. Michael Janz said his office has received complaints about “party houses” in the Whyte Avenue area. However, tasked with assessing the situation, city staff found fewer than 100 public complaints about short-term rentals in 2024, less than one per cent of all complaints to the community standards department. “The scale of the problem doesn’t appear to be that great in Edmonton,” said Lyla Peter, director of development approvals and inspections with the city. Which is why staff advised councillors against imposing new rules on the sector, claiming those regulations could be ineffective and difficult to enforce. Laurie Chandler, vice president of the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association called the report “flawed, biased and incomplete.” “We are opposed to corporations and individuals buying up multiple properties and running them like hotels without the same health and safety rules, employment standards or tax obligations legitimate operators face,” Chandler told CTV News Edmonton. The city didn’t consult the hotel industry for its report, but spokespeople told councillors Tuesday that the biggest problem with short-term rentals isn’t disruptive parties, rather, unfair taxes. “We all need to be paying our fair share, and right now, these short-term rentals are not,” said Janz. Now council is asking city administration to look into mandating business licences for platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb, forcing hosts to pay commercial taxes and a system to hold problem properties accountable for bad behaviour. “We do need greater regulations,” said Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang. “We have done it for other sharing economy (businesses) like ride share, which in my opinion, has made the industry better.” It’s expected to take another year to draft those regulations. In the meantime, councillors are encouraging Edmontonians to keep filing complaints on problem properties, which will help council decide what comes next.
