In December, the City of Calgary approved a new set of regulations for short-term rental properties. These regulations, which take effect in April, include higher prices on short-term rental licenses, mandatory licenses for platforms like AirBnb and VRBO and a restriction on short-term rentals for affordable housing. A moratorium on new short-term rental licenses for non-primary residences will also take effect, freezing the issuance of new licenses when vacancy rates fall below 2.5 per cent.
In an interview with the Gauntlet, Dr. Gillian Petit, a senior research associate in the Department of Economics at the University of Calgary and an author of the study influencing these policy amendments, shared what these changes might mean for students and residents of the city.
“I think these regulations nicely balance out tourism and business interests with the issue of being concerned about housing and housing availability,” said Petit. “We can still have all these lovely [short-term rentals] during the Stampede and then if the housing market gets tight, we can pull back on the short-term rental availability and slow down the licenses.”
She also shared that the regulations — particularly the moratorium on new short-term rental licenses — will likely not cause any drastic or immediate changes when they take effect.
“The most restrictive piece of that regulation that was going to restrict new licenses when vacancy rates fall beneath 2.5 per cent is not going to take effect immediately, and this is because our vacancy rate is now 4.6 per cent,” explained Petit. “So you actually won’t see a whole lot of changes.”
She explained that the housing market in Calgary is cooling off, likely as a result of the City of Calgary’s efforts to increase the supply of rental apartments in recent years. “The vacancy rate is actually up to 4.6 per cent in Calgary. So this is much higher than it was in 2023 when the vacancy rate was around 1.8 per cent,” said Petit.
Despite Petit’s insights about how the impacts of the new policies will be minimal, there are some changes that she believes will impact students. First, the definition of 'short-term rental' has been extended to include rentals up to six months in length, increasing safety for students who may sign a rental contract for just a few months at a time.
“Sometimes, as students, we rent a place for, say, eight months, because that's you know, as long as they need, so those technically sometimes fall under this medium-term rental. If you're in a 4-month contract, those are going to be regulated now," said Petit, adding that short-term rentals now need to adhere to fire safety regulations.
She explained that these fire safety regulations require the installation of egress windows, fire extinguishers and fire alarms in rental units, among other measures.
“So now in Calgary, when you apply for your license, you're going to have to show that you do adhere to these kinds of basic fire safety regulations,” said Petit.
Petit closed by sharing that the City of Calgary has already taken significant action to address housing concerns outside of amending these short-term rental policies.
“A lot of the change in student housing is again going to come from this increased supply of purpose-built rental housing which Calgary is acting on,” she said. “Short term rentals are not going to gobble up all of these purpose-built rental apartments.”
For a full overview of the new short-term rental regulations being implemented this April, visit the City of Calgary’s website here.
