Have B.C.'s Airbnb restrictions worked and could they be eased?

It has been almost exactly one year since short-term rental restrictions that impacted companies like Airbnb took effect in B.C.

How have the restrictions impacted the B.C. rental market, and could we see the restrictions being eased?

Daily Hive Urbanized heard from B.C. Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon about the impact restrictions have had, and B.C. Premier David Eby recently hinted that they might not be forever.

Have the B.C. Airbnb restrictions worked?

If you forgot what the restrictions do, as of May 1, 2024, hosts on platforms such as Airbnb across the province could only rent out a home if it were their principal residence. This means no more living in one place and putting an investment property on Airbnb. B.C. also increased the maximum fine for hosts who break the rules from $2,000 to $50,000.

The ministry promised that rates would come down and supply would go up. Has that happened?

Emil Kazaryan/Shutterstock

Shortly before the regulations were enacted last year, we learned that the province was hiring for a specific role to investigate short-term rentals, essentially, an Airbnb detective. That person would be responsible for identifying regulatory breaches.

According to Kahlon, the province is still hard at work.

“We are working hard to make sure that homes are being used to house people. We are starting to see results – the number of entire rented out homes on platforms is dropping in larger cities, vacancy rates are rising, and the market price for rent in many communities has come down over the last year.”

According to our own reporting on rental rates, Kahlon is right. Rental rates have gone down since last year. However, the rate drop hasn’t made renting in Metro Vancouver significantly more affordable.

According to the most recent Rentals.ca report, which examined the average asking rent in March in Vancouver, rent has fallen 3.9 percent compared to March 2024.

The ministry stated that the rent drop has been more significant when comparing rates from this year to those of 2023.

“In Vancouver, for example, this decline was 11.4 per cent from October 2023 to March 2025,” the ministry told Daily Hive Urbanized.

Vacancy has also been impacted.

“Vacancy rates are also rising in many places, such as Vancouver, where it increased 0.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent, from 2023 to 2024, Victoria (up 0.9 per cent to 2.5 per cent) and Kelowna (up 2.7 per cent to 3.7 per cent), meaning more homes are available for people when and where they need them,” the ministry said.

Kahlon added that legal suites that abide by the rules still offer accommodations for tourists and visitors.

“We’ve also seen significant buy-in from hosts, even where there are concerns identified. During our investigations, the majority come into voluntary compliance when we contact them without need for further actions.”

Kahlon added that he expects more homes that were once short-term rentals to return to the long-term rental market.

Could we see the restrictions ease?

Premier David Eby. (Government of B.C.)

After short-term rental regulations were announced, many tourist hotspot communities expressed concerns because hotel vacancy was already low, particularly during the busy summer tourist season.

Some folks in the Metro Vancouver business community claimed the regulations had “zero effect” on the rental market.

While the data suggests otherwise, could the restrictions ease ahead of a busy summer tourist season?

In an interview with CHEK News, that’s precisely what B.C. Premier David Eby suggested, under certain conditions.

“When we get back to healthy rental levels in communities, we’ll reduce those restrictions, and people will be able to do short-term rentals again,” Eby told CHEK News reporter Rob Shaw.

How have the Airbnb restrictions impacted you? Has it made finding lodging around B.C. more difficult? Share your thoughts in the comments.

With files from Megan Devlin