(Quebec) Revenue Quebec has levied nearly $5 million in fines in just under a year on illegal short-term housing landlords, an average of nearly $4,000 per violation.
What there is to know
- Revenu Québec imposed $4.9 million in fines on citizens and businesses that illegally rented short-term housing last year.
- That’s up from previous years, but the 1,205 convictions represent just a fraction of the nearly 70% of illegal listings posted on transactional sites like Airbnb, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
- Quebec recently tabled a bill to punish platforms that broadcast illegal ads.
“All of the convictions affect the Tourist Accommodation Act. The provisions of the Act specify in particular that operating a tourist accommodation establishment or giving reason to believe that such an establishment is being operated without it being registered is liable to a fine of $2,500 to $25,000 for a natural person and $5,000 to $50,000 for a legal person,” explained Revenu Québec spokesperson Mylène Gagnon.
Public authorities obtained 1,205 convictions between 1er April 2022 and February 28, 2023. In total, they were fined $4.9 million, for an average fine of $4,000. Revenu Québec has had inspection powers for tourist accommodation since 2018.
Nearly 40% of convictions (457) come from Montreal; then come the Montérégie (120), the Laurentians (110), the Outaouais (80) and Quebec (68).
This is an increase from previous years:
- 2021-2022: 1,099 convictions, 4.3 million in fines
- 2020-2021: 142 convictions, $598,677 in fines
A drop of water
However, these 1,205 convictions must be put into perspective, which are only a drop in the sea of illegal advertisements that abound on transactional sites like Airbnb. Indeed, last December, the Ministry of Tourism noted that the Tourist Accommodation Act was largely ignored by landlords and that only 30% of listings on two major transactional sites complied with the law.
At that time, the authorities concluded that a legislative amendment was necessary to “further increase its compliance rate”.
The Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, therefore tabled a bill last week to directly target transactional sites rather than each ad individually.
“I had hoped that tourist accommodation platforms would be good corporate citizens. I really believed that they would respect the laws of Quebec and that they would only promote and market advertisements where there was the registration number. I was wrong, unfortunately, that was not the case, ”she explained.
The task of the inspectors will be easier since the “sandbox” is smaller, according to her.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx
“If the bill is passed, platform operators who do not comply with the law [s’exposeront à des] fines of up to $100,000 per advertisement that does not comply with the law. So if Airbnb shows 10 listings that are not compliant, that’s 10 fines, if it shows 15 listings that aren’t compliant, that’s 15 fines, and so on. So, if the platform does not display a number: fine. If the platform has not validated the registration number: fine,” she explained.
Note that short-term landlords will also be subject to the law, and may still be fined if they rent accommodation without a registration number.
Other types of non-transactional platforms such as Kijiji, LesPAC or Facebook may be subject to the law by ministerial decree if ever the recalcitrant tries to find a new place to rent their accommodation illegally.