B.C. Housing Minister Christine Boyle says the province has no intention of offering Vancouverites a reprieve from short-term rental restrictions during the FIFA World Cup, despite soaring rental vacancy rates.
“We’re not looking at changes during FIFA,” she said.
But, she is open to starting a conversation with Kelowna’s local government about an exemption to those rules after two consecutive years of vacancy rates exceeding three per cent in the municipality.
“We’re in new territory, and I’m excited to get to do that in partnership,” Boyle said.
The latest report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) found rental vacancy rates nationally are above three per cent as of October, with rates in Victoria and Vancouver at levels not seen in decades. In Vancouver, the rate reached 3.7 per cent, and in Victoria, it hit 3.3 per cent. B.C.’s overall vacancy rate for municialities with more than 10,000 residents reached 3.5 per cent.
The province’s vacancy rate in October of 2024 was 1.9 per cent, and just 1.6 per cent in Vancouver.
Kelowna’s vacancy rate hit 6.4 per cent in October, rising from 3.8 per cent the year prior.
When the rules were created barring short-term rentals outside of primary residences and secondary suites, exemptions were offered to municipalities with more than two consecutive years of rental vacancy rates above three per cent.
Kelowna’s city council voted on Nov. 3 to push for an exemption from those rules to be in place by next summer, and Boyle said she expects to begin the conversation in the new year about how that might go.
Because Kelowna would be the first municipality to earn an exemption after having restrictions in place, Boyle said the process is not yet set up. She also wants to ensure there is no backsliding.
“The conversation I’m interested in having with them is what the right balance is and how we use these tools in a nuanced way to continue to ensure that there are good homes for people who live and work in the community,” she said.
Boyle credits the loosening of the market to several factors, including provincial housing policy and federal immigration changes. She said the ministry planned to keep making “adjustments” as needed to keep progress on track.
A group of Metro Vancouver mayors has called for the province to repeal some of its major housing regulations from the past few years, particularly those that require zoning changes. Boyle said she has met with Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, who chairs the Metro Vancouver board, but reiterated the province will not go “backwards.”
The easing of the market has also led some to call for the rollback of short-term rental restrictions in the Vancouver area during the FIFA World Cup. Airbnb called for this in an October news release, arguing that Vancouver faces a shortfall of as many as 70,000 nights of accommodation during the games.
Boyle says people can still legally rent out their primary residence during the games if they want to make a little extra cash.
“I suspect that will be an increase in the number of people doing just that, renting their primary residences out as a short-term rental while they leave town so that it can be a source of income for them and a place for people coming into the city for FIFA to stay,” she said.