Moncton City Hall. Image: Staff photo

The City of Moncton is looking at possible rules and regulations for short-term rentals through online companies like AirBnB and Vrbo.

The discussion came up at this week’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Currently, New Brunswick is the only Maritime province without a licensing framework for short-term rentals.

All regulatory frameworks in Canada involve some sort of licensing system and often coincide with amendments to the zoning bylaw.

Moncton city planner Josh Davies said while these rentals create income opportunities for homeowners, there are some drawbacks such as shaping an unlevel playing field for hotels.

“It also has some impact on the reduction in the overall vacancy rate and it affects the supply of housing that we would have in the city. There’s the potential for building and fire safety issues as well.”

Deputy mayor Bryan Butler also had concerns surrounding safety.

“We’re taking a single dwelling family home and turning it into three Airbnb’s. There is no firewall and there is no new electrical put in.”

Statistics from October show 346 active short-term rentals in Moncton and that number is expected to grow.

Map shows short-term rentals in purple and blue dots (City of Moncton)

According to a city staff report, the issue in Atlantic Canada appears to be more pressing in areas with high tourism and low vacancy rates.

Areas with strong economic growth and low housing costs are highly susceptible to an increased rate of commercialization.

The Town of St. Andrews has placed a 3.0 percent tourism levy on its short-term rentals which also applies to hotels, bed and breakfasts and campgrounds.

Moncton already has a 3.5 percent tourism levy on hotel rooms but it currently doesn’t apply to the short-term rental market.

City staff will be monitoring municipalities such as Halifax and Charlottetown which will soon be rolling out regulatory bylaws.