Short Term Rental Rules in Greater Victoria: Who Can Still Host, What It Costs, and the Protection That No Longer Exists

If you are going to read one paragraph of this, read this one. Protections for non conforming use of property no longer apply to short term rentals. The grandfathering that used to let an established use survive a zoning change does not save a short term rental any more. An owner who bought on the strength of "it has always been run this way" has bought something the province has already taken away.

The rest of this page is who can still host, what it costs, and what happens if you get it wrong.

What the principal residence requirement actually permits

Where the requirement applies, a short term rental is limited to the host's principal residence, which the province describes as the usual place where they make their home, plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property.

So one home, and one suite on it. Not a second property. Not a condominium you own across town. Not a cottage you bought to run on a platform.

The province has also set out what counts and what does not, and the list is narrower than most people assume. More on that further down.

Where it applies, and the answer for Greater Victoria

The requirement applies in municipalities with a population of 10,000 and over, and in smaller neighbouring communities close to those larger ones. It is in effect in more than 60 communities.

In the Capital Regional District that means all of it. Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Colwood, Langford, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Sidney, Sooke, Highlands and Metchosin are all on the list.

Further up the Island the list includes Nanaimo, Duncan, North Cowichan, Lake Cowichan, Port Alberni, Qualicum Beach and Gabriola Island.

Salt Spring is in, which is the opposite of the other rule

Salt Spring Island is on the list. So is Gabriola.

That is worth saying plainly because it runs the other way from the speculation and vacancy tax, where islands accessible only by air or water sit outside the taxable areas and the Gulf Islands are therefore out. Two provincial rules, two different treatments of the same islands. Do not reason from one to the other.

The community list is current as of 1 June 2026 and it changes annually, so for a specific address check the province's own list rather than this page.

The registry, and what it costs you every year

As of 1 May 2025, all short term rental hosts, platforms and strata hotel platforms operating in BC must be registered with the provincial short term rental registry, and hosts had to display their provincial registration number on their listing by that date. Where the local government requires a business licence, that number goes on the listing too.

Registration is not free, and the fee tells you what the province thinks of each arrangement.

$100   where the host lives there: the whole home while they are away,
       or a bedroom or bedrooms in it
$450   where the host does not live there: a secondary suite, a secondary
       property, or a strata hotel unit listed on a third party platform

That is an annual cost, and the renewal window opens 40 days before a registration expires. On a secondary suite it is a real holding cost that belongs in the numbers before you buy, not after.

What happens if you do not comply

Non compliance can bring administrative monetary penalties, compliance orders that can be filed in court, and removal of the listing from the platform. That last one is the immediate commercial consequence: the listing simply goes.

The bylaw enforcement numbers moved too. The maximum fine on prosecution by a regional district went from $2,000 to $50,000. Municipal ticketing went from $1,000 to $3,000 per infraction, per day.

Per day is the part people skim. A disputed listing that stays up through a summer is not a one time fine.

The exemptions that are real

There are three tiers, and they are not the same thing.

Outside the legislation entirely, no registration. Hotels and motels, which the province characterises as typically one property owned by one person or company. Vehicles insured through ICBC vehicle insurance. Tents and temporary shelters, which typically have no permanent plumbing or electricity.

Exempt from registration and from the principal residence requirement, but still subject to everything else. Timeshares. Home exchanges. Student or employee housing. Accommodation for outdoor recreational activities. Strata corporation guest suites. Seasonal accommodation. And farm land, but specifically land classed as Class 9 under the Assessment Act. An Agricultural Land Reserve designation on its own is not an exemption, which is a distinction worth repeating to anyone who has been told otherwise.

Exempt from the principal residence requirement but still required to register. Strata titled hotels or motels. Fractional ownership properties where the property may not be used as a principal residence. And properties in exempt communities, including ski resort areas and communities under 10,000 people that have not opted in.

Nothing on that list is a general exemption for a nice house that gets good nightly rates.

The opt out, and why it is not a plan

A municipality can ask to be released from the principal residence requirement, but only where it has maintained a vacancy rate of at least 3 percent for two consecutive years. The local government's resolution goes to the province by 28 February and the result takes effect on 1 June. That timeline was accelerated for 2027 onward, from a 31 March submission and a 1 November effective date, so that the outcome is known before the summer season rather than after it. Kelowna was given a one time use of the accelerated timeline, effective 1 June 2026.

For context on the direction of travel, the province reports vacancy rates rising from 1.2 percent when the legislation was introduced in 2023 to 3.5 percent in 2025, and asking rents for long term rentals down 14.3 percent across BC.

What that means practically is that an opt out is a municipal decision driven by a vacancy test, on an annual cycle, with a date. It is not something an owner can rely on when buying, and a purchase that only works if a council opts out is a purchase that only works on a guess.

What this means if you are buying

If a property is being marketed on short term rental income, the first question is not what it earned. It is whether that income is legally available to you.

It is available if the property will be your principal residence, or a suite on the property where you live. It is available if the property fits one of the exemptions above, in which case you should be able to see exactly which one and why. It is not available because the seller has been doing it for years, because the use predates the rules, or because the neighbours do it too. Non conforming use protection does not apply here any more.

Three things to confirm before you remove a subject: that the property is in a community where the requirement applies, which it is everywhere in Greater Victoria; whether the local government requires a business licence and whether one exists; and whether there is a valid provincial registration, since without one the listing can be removed regardless of anything else.

And if the numbers only work with short term rental income that you will not legally be able to earn, the honest answer is that the numbers do not work.

FAQ

Sources

• BC's short term rental legislation, Province of British Columbia:
• Principal residence requirement, including the community list and exemptions:
• Register as a host:
• Renew your short term rental registration:
• Accelerating the short term rental opt out process, BC Gov News, 2026:
• New rules take effect to rein in short term rentals, BC Gov News, 2024:
• Short Term Rental Accommodations Act:

Rules, fees, dates and community lists verified against the above on 2 October 2026. The community list changes annually and the rules have been amended more than once since 2023, so confirm a specific address and the current figures on the province's own pages before you rely on them. This page is general information about how the rules work, not legal advice.