A review of data shared Wednesday night by monitoring site Inside Airbnb allowed Radio-Canada to note that although listings without a license number no longer show availability, multiple hosts entered the same registration number to continue using the multinational’s services.
In Montreal, for example, 29 apartments with license number 123456 were still for sale by various advertisers in different sectors of the island as of Thursday afternoon.
However, the numbers that the CITQ assigns to owners looking to rent out their primary residence for the short term are unambiguous. License 123456 also does not appear on the Bonjour Québec (New Window) website, which lists all the lodging establishments in the province.
Airbnb last Friday pledged to disable non-compliant listings and add a mandatory registration field to force hosts looking to short-term rent their listings To their certification number — measures promised to take effect Tuesday, March 28.
However, our checks conducted on Thursday indicate that the multinational does not verify that the registration number provided corresponds to an existing license, Radio-Canada even managed to create a 30th advertisement with the number 123456.
However, the CITQ database is not public.
It is up to the province to enforce its laws
Restarted on this issue, Airbnb refused to grant us an interview on Thursday.
However, via email, the multinational pointed out that in Quebec, the province assigns the CITQ number directly to hosts and not to Airbnb.
Therefore, it is the province’s responsibility to enforce its laws, she argued, while recalling that it had made its city portal available to the government to facilitate monitoring of host compliance.
Half the ads are gone
However, the addition of a mandatory registration field to compel owners to enter their tourist license number appears to have impacted the amount of accommodation offered on the platform.
In Montreal, for example, the latest data from Inside Airbnb shows that number fell from 14,289 to 6,987 from March 16-29, a drop of just over 50%.
The rate of short-term rentals also fell from 83% to 40% over the same period — a rate that Inside Airbnb founder Murray says could rise again in the future if hosts can continue to provide any license number, Cox.
“Based on what has happened previously in other cities, we expect this fraudulent use to increase as hosts attempt to return to Airbnb. »
— A quote from Murray Cox, founder of Inside Airbnb
That’s why Inside Airbnb and the Regrouping of Housing Committees and Tenant Associations of Quebec (RCLALQ) are calling on the Legault government to act immediately and tighten legislation.
Quebec, they argue, urgently needs to move forward to hold platforms like Airbnb accountable for the legality of properties displayed on their website – something Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx has already promised despite the multinational’s pledge last week.
The RCLALQ is concerned that Quebec’s rental stock will be converted for tourism use if there is a housing crisis. According to extensive research released Monday, Airbnb offered nearly 30,000 rental units across the province last month.
Minister praises Airbnb’s efforts
The debate about short-term rentals has been reignited in recent weeks after the fire that killed seven people in a heritage building in Old Montreal, where most units were rented through Airbnb.
Hinting at her inaction on this filing, Secretary Proulx announced an imminent change in the legal framework in the days that followed, even going so far as to summon Airbnb representatives to their offices to personally brief them on their intention to hold them accountable .
A new meeting between the two parties was also scheduled for Thursday.
We will continue talks with them, efforts have been made this week which I welcome, but I stand by my intention to change the rules as soon as possible, ie before the end of Parliament, the Minister announced on her arrival in the blue room.
Ms Proulx is aware that some owners use dubious identifiers. In a statement sent to CBC a few days ago, his department also claimed to have taken note of this from multiple platforms [faisaient] Advertisements for properties without a number or with a fake registration number.
“We’re trying to find all these cracks [sic] to have a bill that we will introduce as soon as possible. »
— A quote from Caroline Proulx, Quebec Secretary of Tourism
The Accommodation Establishments Act, passed in 2021, requires owners to obtain a license to rent out their accommodation on a short-term basis. However, rentals of 31 nights or more, which seem to have been targeted by many advertisers on Airbnb, fall under a different legal framework.
Some municipalities also prohibit short-term rentals in part or all of their territory. However, these regulations are largely ignored on both Airbnb and other digital platforms.
With information from Yessica Chavez, Sarah Leavitt, Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski and Marie-Isabelle Rochon