Two years after fatal fire, Montreal tightens rules on short-term rentals like Airbnb

This Feb. 22, 2018, file photo shows an Airbnb logo during an event in San Francisco. (Eric Risberg / AP)

Montreal has cracked down on short-term rentals in a bid to ease housing pressure in the city and fight what it calls the “scourge” of illegal listings on Airbnb.

Members of city council on Tuesday passed a new bylaw that will allow people to rent their homes for short stays only during peak tourist season, between June 10 and Sept. 10.

“This is a major step forward,” Coun. Benoit Dorais said during an impassioned speech at Montreal’s city hall. “I’m sure that what we are doing is correct, and that it will ensure that we begin to stem this scourge.”

Quebec has for years been trying to regulate short-term rentals in the province, with lacklustre results. Pressure mounted after a March 2023 fire in an Old Montreal building left seven people dead, six of whom had been staying in illegal Airbnb rentals.

In Montreal, full-time Airbnb units run by commercial enterprises are only permitted in designated areas. But rules have been less strict for private residences, to allow people to rent out their homes for short periods — when they go on vacation, for example.

After the fire, the provincial government tabled new legislation to prohibit platforms like Airbnb from displaying ads that do not include a licence number and expiry date. The platforms could face fines of up to $100,000 for each illegal listing.

But news reports have since detailed how operators can easily bypass those rules and advertise supposed primary residences that are not actually occupied.

The city said in January that despite the new provincial law, more than half of the 4,000 units on short-term rental platforms were still listed illegally. Dorais, who is responsible for housing on the city’s executive committee, said on Tuesday that it has been difficult to enforce the existing rules, as officials face major hurdles to prove ads are illegal. “As long as we stay in this straitjacket, it won’t work,” he said.

Dorais said the new bylaw is much simpler — if someone posts an ad outside the summer season, they will be fined. “We’re reversing the burden of proof,” he said.

The new rules, adopted days after the two-year anniversary of the Old Montreal fire, allow inspectors to issue fines of $1,000 a day for listings that pop up outside the three-month window, and $2,000 a day for repeat offenders. The bylaw also increases the size of the squad responsible for monitoring short-term rentals to 10 officials from four.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has said she hopes the new bylaw will return as many as 2,000 units to the long-term rental market.

In a statement on Monday, Airbnb criticized the new regulation, claiming it would hurt Montreal’s tourism industry. Alex Howell, policy lead for Canada at Airbnb, said the city is “jeopardizing more than $400 million in economic activity and more than 4,400 jobs,” including in industries that depend on tourism, such as retail and food services.

The company said the new bylaw will weaken Montreal’s ability to attract visitors for major events like the Grand Prix, and claimed Airbnb rentals have a negligible impact on housing availability or affordability.

In response, a city spokesperson said the municipal government is “confident that Montreal’s hoteliers will be able to meet tourist demand.”

Montreal’s official opposition proposed several amendments to the bylaw, including one that would have allowed people to rent their homes between December and March as well. City councillor Julien Hénault-Ratelle argued the bylaw is “very restrictive,” and will hurt homeowners who rent out part of their homes for short stays to help pay their mortgages.

But Plante’s party, Projet Montréal, voted down the amendment. Dorais said that offering a short-term rental for six months of the year could still be more profitable than renting to a long-term tenant.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.

Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press