Any home or room rented for less than 28 consecutive days is a short-term rental. This covers entire homes, rooms, basement suites, and short-term condo rentals across all platforms, including Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com.
You can only register the home you actually live in. The address on your driver’s licence, utility bills, and where you sleep most nights. That is your principal residence, and it is the only property you can register. One person, one registration, one address.
Speak to your building committee before going ahead. A lot of condo boards forbid all short-term condo rentals, no matter what the city allows, and this will override any permission granted by the city. If you are renting, be sure to check your rental agreement.
Yes, and there is no grace period; a short-term rental property that isn’t registered is a violation of the bylaws.
The 2026 registration cost will be $375, which is non-refundable and payable in advance. The yearly renewal rate is $390, also non-refundable. There is no automatic renewal for registrations, so listings need to be taken down once registration expires.
This section covers everything you need to have ready before you start your registration application:
Your registration number must appear on every listing. Platforms are legally required to verify these numbers and will pull listings that show an expired or missing one.
There is no fixed timeline, but most complete applications are processed within a few days to two weeks. Mismatched addresses or incomplete documents trigger manual review and slow everything down. Get your ID address and property address aligned before you apply, and do not list until your number is confirmed.
This section covers how night limits work and what they mean for each rental type:
Entire-home rentals are capped at 180 nights per calendar year. Room rentals have no annual cap.
You rent the whole home while you are away. The 180-night annual limit is hard. Once you hit it, you are done for the year. This suits hosts who travel regularly and want to earn while they are gone.
You rent individual rooms while living in the property. Up to three bedrooms can be rented at a time with no night cap. You can only list one fewer bedroom than your home has total, so a three-bedroom home can advertise a maximum of two rooms.
Some hosts used to switch between entire-unit and partial-unit once they hit the 180-night cap. The January 2025 updates closed that. You declare your rental type at registration and it stays locked until renewal.It is one of the bigger shifts in short-term rental management rules Toronto has made in recent years.
The current MAT rate is 8.5%, temporarily raised from 6%, and runs until July 31, 2026. Every host must collect and remit this on bookings under 28 days.Airbnb and VRBO handle collection automatically, but you still need to file a quarterly MAT report with the city even in periods with no bookings. If you take direct bookings, you collect the tax yourself and remit it within 30 days of each quarter end. Stays of 28 days or more are fully exempt.
These updates reshaped how short-term rental property management works. Knowing them is essential whether you self-manage or use a service :
There were stricter definitions regarding short-term rental properties and principal residences. Emergency contact details and exit diagrams had to be provided within every rental. The revocation period was reduced to 10 days.
The city can now require two documents beyond your government ID to verify principal residence and can request an in-person interview. Annual inspections became formally authorised. If a registration is revoked, no new registration can be issued at that address for one full year.
Fees increased. Hosts must now declare rental type at registration, locking it in for the year. Partial-unit hosts face a new advertising cap of one fewer bedroom than the total in the home.
Any violation of bylaws leads to a fine amounting to up to $10,000 for individuals per violation. Repeated non-compliance with bylaws will lead to an individual being banned permanently from the registry. As of the end of 2025, there has been the implementation of a direct API link between the city and the platform.Working with a professional Airbnb property management in Toronto service is one way hosts stay on top of this.
Here is a full breakdown of what it costs to run a short-term rental in Toronto in 2026 whether you are self-managing or working with a short-term rental property management company:
2026 Fees at a Glance
|
Fee |
Amount |
Notes |
|
New Registration |
$375 |
Non-refundable |
|
Annual Renewal |
$390 |
Non-refundable, subject to increase |
|
Municipal Accommodation Tax |
8.5% |
Until July 31, 2026 |
|
Fine Per Offence |
Up to $10,000 |
Individuals |
Investment properties do not qualify. If you do not live there, you cannot register it for short stays.
Any stay of 28 days or more falls entirely outside the short-term rental framework. No registration, no night cap, no MAT, no principal residence requirement. Mid-term rentals attract relocating professionals, healthcare workers, and families between homes. Fewer turnovers, less management, and a model that actually works for investors in Toronto right now.
Use this checklist to confirm your short-term rental is fully set up and compliant :
At Stayfinity, we handle the full operational side of short-term rental management for Toronto hosts, from compliance and listing setup to guest communications and renewals. Get in touch, and we will show you exactly what hosting looks like in practice.
