Calgary City Council has unanimously approved amendments to the Business Licence Bylaw for short-term rentals (STR). The amendments aim to balance housing affordability, safety, community impact and enforcement while continuing to support property owners and the economic benefits short-term rentals bring to the city. Changes will come into effect on April 1, 2025.
“Calgary has a unique market, and our goal is to take a flexible and evidence-based approach towards short-term rental regulations,” says Antonio Faiola, Manager, Business Experience. “We believe that the regulations Council approved are reflective of the findings in the Short-Term Rental Study and engagement with Calgarians.”
Council approved the following Business Licence Bylaw amendments:
- Primary and non-primary residence licences: The licence type will be issued based on whether the short-term rental is operated from a primary or non-primary residence and no longer on the number of rooms. This approach will allow The City to understand the volume of commercialized short-term rentals.
- Moratorium on new non-primary residence licences if vacancy rates fall below 2.5 per cent: Impose a temporary pause on issuing new non-primary residence short-term rental licences until vacancy rates increase above 2.5 per cent. The moratorium is based on the ‘Purpose-Built Rental Market’ vacancy rate data for Calgary from the annual Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Rental Market Report.
- Revised short-term rental definition to include rentals up to 180 days: The definition of ‘short-term rental’ will be expanded from the current limit of 30 consecutive days to include rentals of up to 180 consecutive days, addressing regulatory gaps in the emerging medium-term rental market.
- Licence short-term rental platforms: A new short-term rental company licence category will be added to the Bylaw and will include an annual $3,000 licence fee. As part of the license requirements short-term rental companies will be required to collaborate with The City to ensure operators maintain listings with a valid business license.
- Remove condo board consent: Business license applicants must comply with their condominium’s bylaws, and condo boards have internal mechanisms to address non-compliance. As a result, consent from the condo board will no longer be required.
- Business licences will not be issued to homes designated as affordable housing: To protect and maintain affordable housing options, The City, in collaboration with The City’s Housing Solutions, will not issue short-term rental business licences to homes designated for affordable housing.
Additionally, Administration will explore a short-term rental property tax subclass for non-primary residences and will report back to Council in 2025. A steering committee will be formed to facilitate a collaborative approach to address emerging issues, enforcement and support future regulatory amendments.
More information about these bylaw amendments and additional actions can be found here. Find up to date information on the number of licenced short-term rentals by using our interactive map here. For more details about the Short-Term Rental Study, visit engage.calgary.ca/STR.
About the Short-Term Rental Study
The City collaborated with the University of Calgary (UCalgary) through the Urban Alliance partnership to gain valuable data to inform Calgary’s short-term rental regulations. The City launched Phase 1 of the study’s engagement in October 2023, followed by Phase 2 in September 2024. The “What We Heard” reports, found at engage.calgary.ca/STR, summarize findings of both phases. To access the final Short-Term Rental Study report from UCalgary, follow the link here.
