Short-term-rental rules in Ottawa
This is a dated record of short-term-rental rules in Ottawa, summarized from the official government sources listed below. Source-read status is shown separately; the official link governs.
Source-read status unknown · record generated September 7, 2026
The rules, source by source
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Registration (Host Permit)
Anyone renting their principal residence, or part of it, for stays under 30 consecutive nights must hold a City of Ottawa Short-Term Rental Host Permit issued under By-law No. 2021-104 before listing; homeowners, tenants (with landlord permission), and condo/co-op owners (unless prohibited by their corporation) may all apply, and rural/cottage owners use a separate cottage-rental permit stream.
Official source: ottawa.ca ↗ -
Eligibility (principal residence)
Short-term rentals are only permitted in the host's principal residence — the home where they live most of the year; investment properties, secondary homes, and vacant units cannot be used, and a host is entitled to only one Host Permit for their principal residence (plus, separately, one for a cottage rental if applicable).
Official source: ottawa.ca ↗ -
Fees & tax
The Host Permit fee (Schedule A of By-law No. 2021-104) is $65 administration fee plus $58 permit fee ($123 total), valid for 2 years before renewal; hosts must also maintain continuous liability insurance for the life of the permit, and Ottawa collects a 6% Municipal Accommodation Tax on stays under 30 days (raised from 4% at launch to 5%, then to 6% effective January 1, 2026) — automatically remitted by major platforms, or filed quarterly by independent hosts.
Official source: ottawa.ca ↗ -
Fines & penalties
By-law No. 2021-104 s.14 (as amended through By-law 2024-469) sets a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum fine of $100,000 for each day an offence occurs or continues, with each day treated as a separate violation — the total of all daily fines for a continuing offence is not itself capped at $100,000.
Official source: ottawa.ca ↗ -
Insurance (Host Permit)
The City of Ottawa publishes an Insurance Certificate Checklist — Required wording for the Short-Term Rental Host licence category. It states each insurance certificate must show: coverage for short-term rental activity appropriate to the nature of the property; a limit of liability of not less than $1,000,000 inclusive per occurrence for personal injury, bodily injury, death and damage to property; an endorsement of either short-term rental, Airbnb, or home sharing; and a clause giving the City thirty (30) days’ written notice if the insurer cancels. WHAT THIS SOURCE IS: this is the City’s administrative checklist of required certificate wording — what the certificate the City accepts must say. It is not By-law No. 2021-104, and the by-law as amended governs. The checklist carries no publication or revision date; we retrieved it on September 2, 2026 and cannot tell from the document when the City last updated it. ⚠ We do not monitor Ottawa. ottawa.ca blocks automated access, so we cannot detect changes to Ottawa’s by-law or to this checklist. Treat this as a dated snapshot, not a watched rule. Ask your own insurer or broker about your policy, and the City of Ottawa, Bylaw & Regulatory Services Branch about the permit.
Official source: documents.ottawa.ca ↗
Related reading
Informational only — not legal advice. This service summarizes publicly available government information and may be incomplete, out of date, or in error. Rules change frequently and can be altered by courts without notice. Always verify against the official source and consult a qualified attorney before making decisions. No attorney-client relationship is created.
We describe the rules and when they change — we never tell you whether your specific situation is compliant. That’s between you, the official source, and your own advisor.
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