An Airbnb office in Toronto. 18 May 2016. (Photo from Wikipedia)An Airbnb office in Toronto. 18 May 2016. (Photo from Wikipedia)
Sarnia

City issues reminder that licences required for short-term rentals

The City of Sarnia is offering a "gentle" reminder to those who offer short-term accommodations, like Airbnbs.

Sarnia General Manager of Community Services Stacey Forfar said property owners and operators are required to apply for and receive a Short Term Accommodation (STA) Business Licence and register for the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) collection in order to be a legally compliant operator.

"As things are progressing with Stage 3 reopening, we have received a number of complaints," said Forfar. "There are some investigations and we just want to gently remind the industry to please give us a call. We can help them through that process and get them through those standards reviews."

Forfar recommends the accommodations be licenced before they open.

"Right now there's only two that have been issued, and we're in the process of working through a few more at this time," she said the first week of September. "We are expecting a number of additional ones to come in this fall."

While standards in the short-term accommodation review are being appealed, Forfar said the licence requirement is still in effect, as well as the original standards called bed and breakfast.

You can apply for an STA licence and MAT collection here.

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