So, you’ve planned your dream vacation and found a perfect property that fits both your needs and budget. And now for the big question: will the property still be in operation once you arrive?
There are a number of illegal vacation rental properties in Canmore advertising lovely homes at great rates. That ‘great rate’ comes at a price for both the visitor (you) and the people of Canmore. For the visitor, the ‘great rate’ means accepting the risk that the property might be shut down prior to your arrival. For the people of Canmore, the ‘great rate’ means that the homeowner is not paying the correct taxes to our municipal, provincial, and federal governments. Many Canmore homeowners are none-too-pleased when they are notified that their taxes have been increased, when their neighbour is illegally renting their house for $5000+ per week. As a result of this contentious issue, our municipality began actively investigating vacation homes advertised on all of the major vacation rental websites. If you can find the ad online, so can our municipality.
In order to rent out ANY property to accommodate a stay of less than 28 days (whether a hotel, vacation rental or B&B), local laws require a business license and proper zoning. If you would like to make sure that the property you are booking is legally operated, you can find much of this information online.
TO CONFIRM ZONING
*Updated April 12* Our local municipality has now made it easy to verify if a property is zoned to allow nightly rentals:
Tourist Home Information
Scroll down to the section called “Permitted Tourist Homes” for a PDF of all properties zoned to allow nightly rentals
If you have been sent confirmation of your short stay for an address not listed, I urge you to forward this information to the Town of Canmore.
TO CONFIRM LICENSING
- Visit the Town of Canmore Business Directory .
- Enter the name of the company and click <Perform Directory Search>.
- Or, enter the address that you have been asked to send payments to and click <Perform Directory Search>. Some of the illegal properties have been giving out a licensed company name, but have directed guests to call a different phone number and send payment to a different address. To be certain, call the phone number on the Town of Canmore listing, and only send payments to the address connected with the business.
TO CONFIRM GST REGISTRY
Canada is a beautiful country where we have a high-level of infrastructure to keep our residents safe, healthy, educated, and happy (police, schools, hospitals, roads, etc.). These services are paid for by taxes. When an individual or business does not fully comply with tax legislation, an unfair burden is placed on law-abiding taxpayers and businesses and the integrity of Canada’s tax base is jeopardized.
The Good & Services Tax (GST) is a tax of 5% that applies to the supply of most goods and services in Canada. Almost everyone has to pay the GST/HST on purchases of taxable supplies of goods and services, including short-term accommodation.
In order to perform this search, you will need some information from the business: The correct business name and GST number (9 digits). When asking for this information, you may get some version of the following answers from the business owner:
- “We don’t charge GST”. Businesses in Canada who have a minimum number of sales in a year are required, by law, to collect and remit GST. This is mandated by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA – the equivalent of the IRS in the United States). Although long-term rental properties are exempt from collecting and remitting GST, short term rentals are not exempt.
- “We don’t make more than the minimum amount, so we are not required to charge GST”. Even the smallest property at the lowest nightly rate makes more than the minimum amount as set by CRA. One of the only ways for this statement to be true is if the owner is only renting a few times a year (perhaps while they are on vacation themselves). The challenge for guests in that situation is this: An individual who rents “on the side” may not care about guest satisfaction as much since they do not have a business reputation to be concerned with. An individual may not have a system in place to keep track of guest payments, and return deposit money on time. A company that charges GST and relies on revenue made from Booking Fees is more committed to guest satisfaction (or at least they should be, if they intend their business to be successful).
There are many legally operated Tourist Homes in Canmore. Although you may wish you didn’t have to pay GST, it does offer more security that the property actually exists and is being run professionally.
- Visit the Canada Revenue Agency GST Registry.
- Read through the CRA terms for using the registry. Click <I Agree> at the bottom of the page.
- Enter the 9 digit GST number.
- Enter the company name.
- Enter today’s date in the following format yyyy-mm-dd.
- GST Numbers are tied to the specific sectors of businesses so that CRA can better understand how much revenue is generated by each sector. So, if someone gives you a valid GST number for “Joe’s Plumbing” they should not be collecting GST under this number for their rental business.
If you have been charged GST by someone using an invalid number, please contact Revenue Canada.
We are sorry if we have scared you with this information. We have struggled with whether or not to ensure visitors are aware of this problem. We have decided that if we save even one guest from having a less-than-perfect time in the Rockies, then it was worth our small effort.