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Platform requirements

Last updated on January 28, 2025

There are new requirements for short-term rental platforms to operate in B.C. Learn about your responsibilities as a platform operating in B.C. on this page

On this page: 

​Platform requirements overview

Short-term rental platforms operating in B.C. are required to:

  • Register with the provincial short-term rental registry
  • Identify a platform representative
  • Share required monthly short-term rental information to the Province
  • Enable the posting of provincial registration numbers on all short-term rental listings
  • Validate listing registration nusbers
  • Remove listings that do not have a valid registration number
  • Remove non-compliant listings when required to by a provincial compliance order
  • Enable the posting of business licence numbers on all listings, where applicable
  • Remove non-compliant listings at the request of local governments

Understanding provincial requirements is the responsibility of the platforms. Non-compliance with the requirements may result in penalties, such as:

  • Administrative monetary penalties, which may start at up to $10,000 per day
  • Compliance orders, which can be filed in court

Strata hotel platforms are exempt from most platform requirements, including validation of registration numbers and monthly data sharing. For information on strata-hotel platform requirements and registration, visit this page: Strata-hotel platform registration.

Platform representative

Short-term rental platforms must identify a platform representative to communicate with the Province by May 15, 2024. This person will be responsible for representing the platform regarding regulatory requirements for platforms.

Platforms can contact STRdata@gov.bc.ca for more information.

Data sharing

Platforms are required to share information about short-term rental listings directly with the Province on a monthly basis. All platforms must upload a monthly report of all listings to the STR Data Portal.

Information provided to the Province may be shared with local government for enforcement of their own short-term rental bylaws and will support provincial compliance monitoring of the registration requirement. This information will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to the public

Information includes:

  • Host name, address, and contact information
  • Business licence number
  • Listing details
  • Booking history

Reporting to the Province

Platforms must confirm all listings that have been removed as a result of a local government request or a failed registration validation in a monthly report to the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs.

Platforms are only required to submit a report for months when at least one listing removal was requested.

See: Guide to STR Data Portal monthly data sharing for platforms (PDF, 2 MB)

Validation of registration numbers 

As of May 1, 2025, short-term rental hosts must display a valid registration number on their listings. To enable this, all short-term rental platforms are required to:

  • Enable the posting of a provincial registration number on short-term rental listings
  • Validate registration numbers on short-term rental listings against the Province’s registry data

As of May 1, 2025, platforms must validate registration numbers of new listings before they are posted. Platforms must also provide ongoing validation of all listings, as detailed below.

The validation process varies depending on the platform size, which are displayed in the expandable menu below:

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Medium (250 to 999 listings) and Major (1000 or more listings) platforms

Medium and Major platforms must validate registration numbers daily with the short-term rental registry through an Application Programming Interface (API). API is a software that allows for automated validation and information sharing between the Province and platforms. The short-term rental registry will return a result indicating a validation either passes or fails.

 

Minor platforms (platforms with less than 250 listings)

Minor platforms must validate registration numbers on a quarterly basis as part of their regular reporting through the STR Data Portal, and are required to remove any listings that lack valid registration numbers immediately.

See: Guide to STR Registry API Validation for platforms (PDF, 310 KB)

Strata hotel platforms are not required to validate registration numbers if their website is the dedicated online booking system for listings at their specific property only. More information can be found on the strata-hotel platform registration page.

Removal of invalid listings

Platforms are required to take specific actions when a registration is determined to be invalid.

There will be an initial phased approach for smooth implementation of the registration requirement for hosts. Where a short-term rental offer does not have a valid registration number, platforms must cease providing platforms services in the following two phases:

  • From May 1 to 31, 2025, where a registration validation has failed for a listing, platforms must stop advertising the listing and prevent any new bookings
  • Beginning June 1, 2025, and going forward, where a registration validation has failed for a listing, platforms must stop advertising the listing, prevent any new bookings, and cancel any existing bookings

The director of the provincial compliance and enforcement unit may also issue compliance orders for the removal of listings that are non-compliant.

Display of business licence and requests from local governments

All short-term rental platforms are required to:

  • Enable the posting of business licence numbers on short-term rental listings
  • Remove non-compliant listings at the request of a local government

Short-term rental hosts must display a valid business licence number on their listings in areas where a business licence is required by the local government.

Platforms must cease providing platform services in respect of a listing (for example, remove the listing and cancel bookings associated with the listing) that do not comply with a business licence requirement at the request of a local government:

  • Local governments must first send a notice of non-compliance with a business licence requirement to hosts and platforms prior to requesting the platform remove a listing 
  • If a host remains in non-compliance, the local government can make the request through the STR Data Portal to the platform
  • Platforms will have five days from receiving the request to cease providing platform services

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Disclaimer

The information on this webpage about the Province of British Columbia’s Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act and regulations is provided for the user’s convenience as a basic starting point. It is not a substitute for getting legal advice or other professional advice. If there is a conflict between the information on this webpage and the legislation or regulations, the legislation and regulations prevail. The interpretation of legislation is also affected by court decisions. This information may be subject to change, including changes due to the legislative process.

 

If you have questions about B.C.'s short-term rental legislation, please contact the ServiceBC call centre at 1-833-828-2240 or email STRregistry@gov.bc.ca. 

  • ServiceBC is open Mon to Fri from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm with help available on the phone, toll free, in 140 languages and for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired.