On Friday, Airbnb announced plans to remove any listing in Quebec that has not been authorized by the provincial government.
The decision comes after a fire in an Old Montreal building caused the death of four people. There were multiple short-term rental units in the building that were not registered with the Quebec government.
Three other people have been reported missing since the incident occurred last week.
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On Friday morning, Airbnb’s head of public policy in Canada, Nathan Rotman, sent a letter to Quebec’s minister of tourism, Caroline Proulx. Rotman and Proulx also met in person on Thursday.
In the document shared with Daily Hive, Rotman laid out the following three steps that he says the company will take going forward:
- Removing existing listings without a CITQ permit number provincewide.
- Launching a registration field requiring all new listings provide a permit number.
- Providing the Government of Quebec with the Airbnb City Portal tool to support increased host compliance.
“We remain committed to working with your government and municipalities across Quebec to support local tourism and in particular, the Host community – especially those engaged in home sharing in their principal residences,” Rotman added.
On Twitter, Proulx wrote that she was “satisfied with Airbnb’s decision to comply.”
Satisfaite de la décision d’Airbnb de se conformer à notre législation comme exigé hier lors de notre rencontre. Je demande également aux autres plateformes de s’y conformer. Je reste toutefois ferme quant à mon intention de resserrer la Loi sur l’hébergement touristique. #PolQc
— Caroline Proulx (@caroaubureau) March 24, 2023
The tourism minister also urges other rental platforms to comply as well, adding that she will “remain firm” on her intention to tighten the Tourist Accommodation Act.
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