A few recent news articles have attempted to highlight a new change to tourist homes in Canmore. In these publications, the terms Tourist Home and Short Term Accommodation have been used interchangeably. This has caused some undue concern and confusion.
Let's clear things up!
There are a two different zoning categories that allow property owners to rent out their spaces on a short term basis (on platforms such as AirBnb and VRBO) in Canmore.
Tourist Homes - can be condos, duplexes, fourplex units, or single family dwellings
Purpose Built Visitor Accommodation - aka Hotel Condos with Non-Residential Zoning
The MAIN THING is to figure out what the zoning is for your property OR for the property you are looking to purchase. The best way to do this would be to contact the Town of Canmore or a trusted and local real estate expert (ahem - that's us!) who understands the ins and outs of our quaint and quirky little mountain town.
The recent change pertains to Tourist Homes ONLY, which are defined below for clarity.
According to the Town of Canmore website, "A Tourist Home is a "specific type of property under Canmore’s Land Use Bylaw for which an official Development Permit has been issued. They can be rented out on a short-term or long-term basis or used for personal use. For property tax purposes, a Tourist Home is a sub-class of residential property".
Back to business.
You've determined that you do own a Tourist Home in Canmore.
Now what?
Up until this change was announced, owners of Tourist Homes in Canmore have been required to have a business license. If one property owner/entity had several Tourist Homes in their portfolio, they were permitted to rent out all of the properties with just one business license between all of the properties.
Here's where the change comes in.
In the above scenario, the property owner will now be required to hold a separate business license for each individual property rather than one for the portfolio as a whole. The annual cost for a business license will be $150 for each Tourist Home unit.
This may be good news for some property owners who do not live in Canmore. The licensing fee for out of town owners has previously been $600 per year. So...... with the new change.......If an out of town property owner owns three properties (or less), their annual licensing fee will actually decrease.
One last TO DO for your list:
Tourist Homes must include their business licence number in all of their marketing materials - online or in print - AND - continue with the pre-existing requirement to post their permit on their business premises.
** This article was written on November 13, 2024 and pertains ONLY to the new licensing requirements of Tourist Homes in Canmore.
** The Town of Canmore is "currently in the process of making changes to the Land Use Bylaw to eliminate Tourist Homes as a permitted use for a property. Once these changes have been made, existing Tourist Homes will remain as Tourist Homes, but –while there may be exceptions—the option to revert or convert a Residential Property to a Tourist Home, or the option to build new Tourist Homes, will be eliminated".
** This article does not pertain to the phasing out of Tourist Homes in Canmore. Please reach out to us if you have any further questions regarding this.
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