Quebec’s new law on tourist accommodation, which came into effect on Friday, imposes heavy fines, of up to $100,000, for short-term rental platforms that offer properties without the appropriate government certificate.
Under a law passed in the National Assembly in June, platforms like “Airbnb” or “Vrbo” are now prohibited from displaying rental offers without the registration number of the certificate issued by organizations.
People wishing to rent their property for stays of 31 days or less must obtain a registration number and display it in their online listings. These registration certificate numbers are issued by the Corporation de l’industrie touristique du Québec, the Fédération des pourvoiries du Québec or Camping Québec, depending on the type of establishment offered online.
For their part, the rental platforms had until September 1 to start checking the validity of these registration numbers.
Rental operators who post false or inaccurate registration information face fines of up to $50,000, and platforms must now have a representative in Quebec or face a fine of up to $20,000.
The City of Montreal announced last month that due to many illegal tourist accommodations with falsified listings, it would deploy a squad of inspectors to three central boroughs to identify illegal short-term rentals and issue fines.
Two weeks ago, the Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, warned that the new rules make accommodation platforms accountable, otherwise they are exposed to fines of up to $100,000 per illegal advertisement.
“If a platform broadcasts 1,000 illegal ads, then there will be 1,000 fines: that’s the new rules of the game,” said Minister Proulx in an interview with La Presse Canadienne.
