STR Licensing & Marketing Levy By-laws Presented to Council

On Thursday, April 24th, two proposed by-laws relevant to tourist accommodations in the Municipality will be presented to Council. Based on engagement with community members and industry partner, a draft Short-Term Rental Licensing By-law and Marketing Levy By-law will be introduced.

Short-Term Rental Licensing By-law

You can review the draft By-law here.

The desired outcomes of this new By-law include:

1. Support the development of the tourism sector.
2. Ensure alignment with Provincial regulations and identify an efficient process to collect the necessary information to confirm compliance.
3. Create a registry of short-term rentals within the Municipality that would provide a clear understanding to assist with planning and decision-making.
4. Avoid duplication of regulations and minimize administrative burden.
5. Provide the required tools to manage unprofessional behaviours.

This By-law would require that all accommodations within the Municipality obtain a license to operate. To be issued a license, an applicant would need to have an occupancy permit and no unresolved violations or open work orders with the Municipality (that are relevant to the operation of accommodations). Additionally, they must comply with applicable Municipal, Provincial, and Federal law as well as demonstrate they have liability insurance that covers loss or damage from the operation of an accommodation.

Marketing Levy By-law

You can review the draft of this By-law here.

This By-law is similar to those implemented in other jurisdictions throughout Nova Scotia, which have already implemented levies. It would require that all platform operators (i.e. AirBNB) collect a marketing levy from guests purchasing accommodation in the Municipality. Industry engagement and best practices from other jurisdictions has assisted in developing this By-law as well as details around how to best implement the levy and direct its use to market and develop tourism within the Municipality.

To ensure a marketing levy is beneficial to the tourism sector within the Municipality, the following recommendations are being made based on engagement and analysis:

• A 3% levy collected from guests by booking platforms would come into effect January 1, 2026. This timing will give MOC time to handle the required administrative work to setup the levy and is timed so as not to begin in the middle of peak tourism season.
• MOC will support the creation of an industry advisory committee or an industry-led organization to assist in the management and oversight of how the funds should be allocated on marketing and development of the local tourism industry. Details on how this group will be formed, and its role will be publicized once the levy is approved.
• The marketing levy will be charged by a platform operator at the point of purchase and remitted to the Municipality directly. Unless an operator wishes to make alternate arrangement, online platforms will be expected to collect and remit on behalf of operators.
• Revenue raised from the marketing levy would be divided between local tourism marketing and development and regional destination marketing activities.
• While recommendations for how the funds allocated for local tourism marketing and development should be spent would be provided by the group mentioned above, there was significant support for developing mid-sized events locally, which would encourage longer stays in the area.
• We will ensure transparency in how funds are spent.
• It is recommended that we collect and share regional statistics, including occupancy reports from all STRs, to help ensure funds are spent in places most likely to increase visitation and revenues.