Nova Scotia’s new Tourist Accommodations Registration Act
Brian Tabor, QC and Jennifer Murphy
On April 1, 2020, Nova Scotia’s new Tourist Accommodations Registration Act and its regulations come into force, repealing and replacing the Tourist Accommodations Act. With the exception of those who rent short-term roofed accommodation within their primary residence, short-term roofed accommodations hosts and platform operators are required to register through an online system, and can do so starting April 1, 2020.
In March 2019, the Nova Scotia government announced changes to the tourist accommodations legislation, aimed at growing and supporting the tourism industry in Nova Scotia by making it easier for short-term accommodations operators to do business in the province. Under the former Tourist Accommodations Act, short-term rental providers were required to be licensed, and to follow overly specific rules – as specific as ensuring each rental unit is equipped with a shaded lamp that can be turned on or off from the bed, a receptacle to be used as an ashtray even in a non-smoking rental unit, and a closet or wardrobe for hanging clothes with a minimum of 8 coat hangers, among many other requirements.
Now, under the Tourist Accommodations Registration Act, short-term roofed accommodations hosts and platforms that facilitate the rental of short-term roofed accommodations are simply required to register in the Tourist Accommodations Registry (rather than be licensed), and gone are the overly prescriptive rules.
In addition, the annual registration fees due under the Tourist Accommodations Registration Act are reduced and simplified compared to the licensing fees under the predecessor legislation:
- $50 for hosts with 1-4 bedrooms available for short-term rental;
- $150 for hosts with 5 or more bedrooms available for short-term rental; and
- $500 for platform operators.
Annual registration fees would normally be paid on application; however, in recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic, registration fees for hosts and operators are deferred for the 2020-2021 operating year. Hosts and operators are still encouraged to register as close to April 1, 2020, as possible to ensure compliance with the new legislation.
This update is intended for general information only. If you have questions about the above, please contact a member of our Commercial Transactions/Agreements group.
Click here to subscribe to Stewart McKelvey Thought Leadership articles and updates.
Archive
We are pleased to present the fourth issue of Discovery, our very own legal publication targeted to educational institutions in Atlantic Canada. While springtime for universities and colleges signal the culmination of classes, new graduates…
Read MoreGrant Machum and Richard Jordan In an earlier article, we considered an employer’s options when an employee departs and takes with them the social media contacts they have obtained during the course of their…
Read MoreMatthew Jacobs and Daniel Roth (summer student) “… we cannot be a Blockbuster government serving a Netflix society.” – The Hon. Minister Navdeep Bains paraphrasing the Hon. Scott Brison (May 2019, at the Empire…
Read MoreTauna Staniland, Andrea Shakespeare, Kimberly Bungay and Alycia Novacefski The federal government has introduced new record keeping requirements for private, federally formed corporations governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act (“CBCA”). The amendments to the…
Read MoreHealth Group, Christopher Goodridge and Matthew Jacobs The Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed in a decision released on May 15, 2019 that doctors must provide an ‘effective referral’ where they are unwilling to provide care on…
Read MoreLevel Chan and Dante Manna The Province of Nova Scotia is soliciting stakeholder input on significant regulatory changes to the Pension Benefits Act (“PBA”) and Pension Benefits Regulations (“PBR”). The solicitation is accompanied by a…
Read MoreKevin Landry Health Canada has announced changes to the cannabis licensing regime. These changes come ahead of the release of the cannabis edibles, extracts, and topicals amendments to the Cannabis Regulations expected to be released…
Read MoreGrant Machum Last week’s Nova Scotia Court of Appeal’s decision in Halifax Herald Limited v. Clarke, 2019 NSCA 31, is good news for employers. The Court overturned the trial judge’s determinations that an employee had…
Read MoreRick Dunlop On April 24, 2019, the Nova Scotia Government created the Trade Union Act General Regulations so that the Labour Board will no longer consider a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday as the date of…
Read MoreRodney Zdebiak and Anthony Granville On Monday, April 15, 2019, the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature passed a number of changes to the Automobile Insurance Act (“Act”) stating that the intent is to help stabilize insurance rates,…
Read More