Over 100,000 short-term rentals could be homes: StatsCan report [Video]

A new report by Statistics Canada shows the country’s total number of short-term rental listings increased by more than 60 per cent between 2017 and 2023, while the number of short-term rental units that could be used as long-term housing grew by more than 80 per cent.

The report identified more than 100,000 short-term rentals that could be homes.

But the fact that figure makes up less than one per cent of Canada’s total housing stock, according to the data, only adds more fuel to the debate in British Columbia over the province’s recent crackdown on short-term rentals in a bid to bolster the long-term housing market.

Proponents of the new regulations, which restrict short-term rentals to principal residences, say any housing added to the available stock will help in the current crisis, while Airbnb and short-term rental owners say it won’t make a difference.   

Marie-Christine Bernard, assistant director of Statistics Canada and co-author of the report, noted that the research, which used …