CANMORE – Another step in the Town of Canmore’s vacancy tax will see potential steps move forward to have tourist homes purchase a licence under the municipal business registry.
Canmore council gave first reading to the update under consideration, which will lead to a public hearing Nov. 5 before the business registry licence bylaw receives a possible update.
If approved, and tourist homes are required to have a business registry licence, an additional 650-700 licences are expected to be issued and $97,500 in revenue for Town coffers is generated each year.
As part of council accepting the Livability Task Force recommendations, one piece was having all tourist homeowners who rent short-term to display a business licence.
The licence number would be posted in online advertising for the property and posted on each unit.
“It’s with the opportunity in response to the livability task force [recommendation] of changing the wording around tourist home, it’s done some updates that were needed and I think that’s a really good efficient use of all of our time,” said Mayor Sean Krausert.
In the existing business registry licence bylaw, short-term rentals that run as a business are covered but personal use of a zoned tourist home aren’t.
“Tourist homes are short-term vacation rental units operated out of residentially zoned properties, whereas visitor accommodations are short-term vacation rental units on commercially zoned properties,” stated a report from Eleanor Miclette, the Town’s manager of economic development. “This differential is deemed enough to distinguish a separate licensing approach.”
Council could’ve required visitor accommodations to need a business licence, but Town staff recommended against the move due to resource limitations.
Miclette’s report noted that 1,452 individual tax rolls are listed as visitor accommodation. If each titled unit needed a business licence, it would add 1,063 new licences.
She said a visitor accommodation will typically have one licence, similar to a hotel like Super 8 or The Malcolm, and it would add “significant workload” if council were to decide to add them to the registry.
Canmore council approved its vacant home tax and phasing out of tourist home tax designation in August.
In Alberta, vacancy taxes aren’t allowed as in Ontario and British Columbia. However, the Municipal Government Act (MGA) permits tax subclasses to have properties taxed at different rates.
Council directed Town staff to establish a new residential subclass, which will see primary or full-time residents register for the subclass to incur a separate tax rate from other property types that are expected to have higher tax rates.
To be a primary resident, they have to live or have a renter live in a property for a minimum of 183 days of the year with 60 being continuous.
There are 718 tourist homes – including 75 for personal use – in Canmore. As of August, there were eight development permits ongoing that will add 67 more.
From 2013-22, tourist homes grew from 515 to 685. Short-term accommodation also grew from 2,668 in 2014 to 3,334 in 2022. In the same timeframe, multi-family condos expanded from 3,949 to 5,418.
Though tourist homes will be phased out, Three Sisters Mountain Village Properties Limited (TSMVPL) area structure plans (ASPs) would be immune.
The Three Sisters Village ASP, which was approved by council in October after the Court of Appeal supported the Land and Property Rights Tribunal’s decisions, calls for between 900 to 1,300 tourist homes to be built.
In addition to the changes specific to Canmore’s vacancy tax, the bylaw is proposing to make several other updates.
The report noted clarifying language for independent contractors was added if they’re renting space from a Canmore-based business such as massage therapists and hairdressers.
A contractor who works only for a non-profit sports group will allow local non-profit sports organizations to have out-of-town coaches act as local business owners to reduce costs and expenses for families who use the service.
The changes could also see an increase in business licence fees, which would be the first time since 2015 one could be made. A review by Town staff looked at fees in Banff, Cochrane, Calgary, Sylvan Lake, Okotoks, Airdrie, Chestermere, Drumheller and Victoria, Whistler and Penticton in British Columbia.
The proposed fees in Canmore range from $150 for a tourist home, to $375 for a restaurant with 40 or more seats for a non-resident business at $600. The report stated the fee increase is proposed at 15 per cent.
“Under the Town of Canmore reserve policy, any revenue generated from business licence fees is designated for economic development initiatives and programs,” stated the report. “At the end of the year, unused funds are transferred to the economic development reserve to support future projects that benefit the local business community.”
The guidelines for buskers would also remove the age restrictions from having to be older than 12 to be any age.
The update to the business registry licence bylaw, if approved by council, would be the first since 2021.
An amendment added by Krausert would also see a potential increase in fines if violating the bylaw if a landowner is illegally operating a tourist home for short-term use without a licence. The bylaw originally proposed fines range from $250 to $1,000, but if passed the amendment would see it significantly jump.
The first fine for illegally operating a tourist home for short-term use without a licence would be $2,500 then $5,000 for a second time and $10,000 for a third and subsequent fines. Under the MGA, the maximum fine is $10,000.
“If you’re, in fact, not displaying your business licence because you don’t have one and you’re operating in this manner, you’re going to have a special fine just for you,” he said.
