Thousands of short-term rentals operating illegally in B.C., data shows

New data from the B.C. government shows thousands of short-term rentals have been operating illegally.

Seven communities across the province require short-term rentals to operate with a business licence.

According to the province, there are 22,000 listings in those areas but nearly 11,000 are operating without that permit.

The data comes from new legislation that requires platforms like Airbnb to share information on listings.

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“We’re seeing far too many properties or homes in our communities bought by investors and used as short-term rentals, so part of the enforcement is fines up to $5,000 a day for anyone operating illegally, and for the platforms up to $10,000 a day if they do not remove listings that we’ve asked them to remove,” B.C.’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said.

Kahlon said a provincewide registry to track the rentals will go live by the end of the year.