Why Fair Short Term Rental Rules Must Start With Hosts

Dec 2, 2025, Victoria BC. By StayFair Canada

Short-term rentals support local economies, help individual households cover their bills, and keep travel more affordable. With so many benefits, it’s clear this new sector needs a framework to support it in a way that works within local community needs.

Yet when new rules are discussed, the people who make the short term rental industry possible are often left out. 

Short term rental hosts are homeowners, families, retirees, and residents who share their homes for many different reasons, from offsetting rising costs to supporting local workers and visitors who need flexible accommodation.

The sector is people driven, not corporate, and that is why host leadership must be central to any conversation about regulation. In every established sector, the people who do the work help shape the standards that guide it. Restaurants and hotels have their associations. Trades have their governing bodies.

Short term rentals deserve the same structure. When hosts are involved early, regulations become more practical, more effective, and far easier to follow.

Most hosts are not running large operations. They are providing a spare room, a suite, or a second unit that supports their household. They care about the same things that policymakers and neighbours care about. They want safe, respectful, and stable communities. They want clear rules that make sense. They want tourism and local businesses to thrive, and they want to be part of solutions that promote affordable housing (often the act of hosting is the only way hosts can afford their mortgage..

Short term rentals contribute more value than many people realize. Guests support neighbourhood cafés, markets, and small shops. Hosts hire cleaners, landscapers, and trades. Rural towns and small cities rely on STRs to welcome travelling nurses, film crews, and families between homes. When hosts succeed, communities see the benefit through jobs, tourism, and real economic activity.

The challenge comes when regulations are shaped without talking to the people who actually host. Policies can become too broad or too restrictive. Compliance becomes harder. Entire communities lose the social and economic advantages that responsible hosting brings.

Real progress happens when municipal leaders and hosts sit at the same table and design rules together. That is the path to balanced, evidence based policy that protects long term housing, sets clear expectations, and builds community trust.

Canada is now at an important point in the STR conversation. The sector is no longer small or experimental. It is a stable part of our housing and tourism ecosystem. For the next generation of regulations to be fair and effective, host voices must be invited in, not pushed out. Policymakers have an opportunity to create a model for collaboration where shared goals lead to stronger and more sustainable outcomes.