British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered a strata corporation to direct one of its council members to stop using a unit for short-term accommodations (STAs) after finding the council member violated a strata bylaw. The case centred around Bylaw…
MONTREAL – More than a week after a fatal fire tore through a building in Old Montreal, accounts from former tenants and victims of the blaze are raising questions about the safety of the heritage property. Five bodies had been…
The ‘Triple As’ of strategic agility — avoid, absorb and accelerate — are distinct ways that successful companies navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent blog from Harvard Business Review. Companies such as Airbnb that not just survived by…
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world last year, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky watched business shrivel up at record speed and his company’s phonelines flood with cancellations, eventually leading him to lay off 1,900 workers. But under that cloud…
If you own a strata lot in Vancouver, can you use your unit for short-term accommodation through Airbnb? Yes, if your strata bylaws support short-term rentals in your building, according to Airbnb. But in two recent cases before the province’s…
VANCOUVER – The City of Vancouver says the number of short-term rentals listed online has dropped by almost half since new rules came into effect requiring operators to have a business licence. There are 3,742 active Vancouver listings on sites…
OTTAWA – One of the world’s largest short-term rental websites is inviting the Trudeau Liberals to create a regulatory regime for the burgeoning industry – something its critics have long advocated and raising pressure on the government to set rules…
MONTREAL – A Montreal borough is bringing in new rules aimed at limiting the number of short-term rentals in the city’s downtown core. Councillors in the Ville-Marie borough voted in support of a new motion on Tuesday evening to restrict…
Toronto police say a recent case of alleged human trafficking is the latest in a growing trend involving people using Airbnb rentals to conduct their illicit transactions. Det. Sgt. Nunzio Tramontozzi said police have seen a surge in such cases…
With Vancouver City Council voting to approve new regulations for short-term rentals, including Airbnb, and Toronto considering the move, the question remains: who is insuring these rentals? Stefan Tirschler, product and underwriting manager at Vancouver-based Square One Insurance Services, told…
Vancouver City Council has approved new regulations for short-term rentals, including Airbnb, legalizing rentals of less than 30 days in principal residences in the city. The regulations, which come into effect April 2018, allow city residents to apply for and…
The Rise of the Sharing Economy Consumers are increasingly interested in leasing and sharing products rather than buying and owning them. The aptly named “sharing economy” is growing rapidly, fueled in part by social media, which facilitates communication between peers…