Kelowna Chamber of Commerce wants more short-term rentals in the city

There's no doubt that BC's and Kelowna's crackdowns on short-term rentals is hurting tourism in the city.

Without the option of plentiful short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, tourists either didn't come to Kelowna or came, but didn't stay as long and didn't spend as much.

As such, Kelowna had a so-so summer tourism-wise.

It's prompted the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and City of Kelowna to request some changes that could allow more short-term rentals in the city.

"Certainly, Kelowna saw decreased tourism and food and beverage activity over the summer months," said Kelowna Chamber of Commerce president Maryse Harvey.

"We know that multiple factors were at play, but our members who reported the drops to us pointed at the cuts in short-term rentals as a prime cause. We appreciate the City of Kelowna re-examining the issued and making these adjustments."

What the City of Kelowna is doing is drafting bylaw amendments to come into effect by the spring to possibly ease rules around the use of secondary suites as short-term rentals.

The chamber hopes the updated framework will allow more short-term rental owners to seek legal exemptions or considerations to the crackdown legislation.

Such easing could open up more short-term rentals for students and tourists in the summer and winter high seasons.

In May 2024, new provincial rules came into effect allowing short-term rentals only in a property owner's principal residence plus one suite, room or carriage house on the property.

The legislation effectively shut down the majority of short-term rentals because so many people bought homes and condominiums as investments and businesses to rent out exclusively on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.

The City of Kelowna concurred with the province and in some cases was even tougher.

The crackdowns were designed to force former short-term rental owners to put their units into the long-term rental pool so people could secure year and multiple year leases in the midst of a housing shortage.

Kelowna's long-term rental market seems to be in better shape now with more apartments available for rent with construction completion on more rental buildings.

Kelowna's bylaw amendments will jive with provincial legislation, which now includes a registry for short-term rental owners and a better system for enforcement.

"The City of Kelowna has cleared the way for property owners to follow provincial regulations and not have to adhere to two different standards," said Harvey.

"This demonstrates the policy is resonating with government at multiple levels as well as with local businesses and residents who entered the short-term rental field in the last few years."

The policy Harvey refers to is the 'Balanced Approach to Implementing New Short-Term Rentals Legislation' motion the chamber submitted to the BC Chamber of Commerce.

The BC Chamber adopted the motion and started to lobby the provincial government for some easing of the rules to allow more short-term rentals and their place in the tourism economy.