A Guide to Renting Your Cottage in BC

Many members wish to offset the costs of maintaining a cottage by renting them for some of the year. However, it seems that every district has a different by-law. FBCCOA Corporate Member, Spirit of the North, provided the following regional analysis for renting your cabin.

In British Columbia, zoning bylaws that permit short-term cottage rentals are specific for each municipality or regional district.

In the resort municipality of Whistler, each property is zoned differently. Some properties are located in zones that allow for both residential and tourism uses. Rental periods that are less than 28 consecutive days are considered tourist accommodation and are not allowed in residential zones, they must be in tourism or commercial zones.

East Kootenay doesn’t distinguish rental periods in their zoning bylaws and cabin owners can rent their property to tourists. It’s common to rent ski chalets in this region, because of the many ski resorts nearby. Some properties are purchased solely to provide tourist accommodation.

In the Columbia Shuswap regional district, the majority of land is not zoned and therefore restrictions do not apply. But in the areas that are zoned, weekly rentals are considered tourist accommodation and are not allowed in residential zones. In this region, residents are against building inspections as well and properties not zoned are not required to follow the B.C. building code.

On Vancouver Island, in the district of Tofino, there are no formal restrictions on short-term rentals. Ian Howat, the district’s administrator said the bylaws might change because the district will soon draft an official community plan.

In the Central Okanagan regional district residential zoning bylaw does not specify renting periods for single family dwellings, which include cottages and cabins. Ilene Watson, the district’s planner said neighbours have made complaints against noisy tourists in residential areas and the bylaws may change in the future.

On the Sunshine Coast, in Sechelt, a cottage owner rented a property to tourists in violation of zoning bylaw, which permits rental of properties in residential areas only as permanent residences (i.e. no short-term rental to tourists). In this case, the District of Sechelt and the owner agreed to shut down the short-term rental. In August 1999 the District released a short-term rental study. It described both positive and negative impacts of allowing short-term rentals: increased tourism opportunities, additional home-based employment and greater investment in the community. After reviewing the matter, the Sechelt council voted not to allow short-term rentals in residential zones, but decided the bylaw would only be enforced if there were complaints.

In all regions, properties with more than one short-term property, such as a resort, were considered a commercial use and must be located in commercial zones.

Spirit of the North is Canada’s premier cottage rental website and can be found at www.spiritofthenorth.com, or through our own FBCCOA website, on our corporate sponsors page and our rentals page.