Nearly a year after tougher rules for illegal listings took effect, Quebec hasn't fined Airbnb

Almost a year after legislation meant to forceshort-term rental platforms to take action against unauthorizedtourist accommodations took effect, rental giant Airbnbhas yet to incur any fines despite the continued presence of illegal listings on its site.

Under changes to Quebec's Tourist Accommodation Act inSeptember 2023, theprovince has the power to fine digital platform operatorsup to $100,000 per illegal posting.

However, when contacted by Radio-Canada and informed of several clear infractions on the site, Revenu Qubec confirmed that, to date, no fines have been imposed on Airbnb evensincethe implementationof theTourist Accommodation Act in September 2022.

Other industry players, however, have been sanctioned over the past three yearsfor violating the act.According to inspection statistics from Revenu Qubec, 3,600 fines totalling more than$15 million were handed down between March 2020 and March 2024.

Same registration number for 26 units

Under the current regulations, a single license number issued by the Corporation de l'industrie touristique du Qubec (CITQ) cannot be used for more than one civic address.

Still, multiple units are using thesame registration numberon Airbnb listings.

According to checks carried out by Radio-Canada, the registration number 314144, for example, was, as of July 31, being used by 15 hosts to rent out 26 units insix different municipalities across Quebec.

(Fun fact: 314144 is the fabricated registration number used by the Tourism Ministry and CITQ in their news releases to explain the rules in force.)

In June, the Tourism Ministry gave operators of digital accommodationplatforms like Airbnb access to its newly developed application programming interface (API), intended to make it easier for them to verify licence numbers submitted bytheir hosts by performing an automated search of ministrydata.

But almost two months later, the API has yet to help solvethe problem of bogus license numbers on Airbnb.

Asked whether Airbnb had begun using the API, a spokesperson said the deployment of this interface was still new.

"The system is in its infancy and we are currently evaluating its functionality," the spokesperson said by email, adding that Airbnb"[continues] to comply with its obligations and [follows] the system put in place by the Quebec government."

But the company said no other municipality or province has such a cumbersomesystem.

Airbnb had previously proposed that the Quebec government itself check the validity of listingsand have them removed if necessaryusing the company's City Portal, arguing that hundreds of jurisdictions havealready gone this route.

Quebec has repeatedly rejected this proposal.

Public registry expected this fall

Despite the ongoing issues, the situation is improving, according to Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx's office.

In April, a study made public by the Tourism Ministry estimated that the compliance rate for listings published concurrently on Airbnb and VRBO, a commercial vacation rental site,was close to 90 per cent.

At the time, Proulx stated that her government would continue to take action to thwart the 10 per cent of actors who find ways to circumvent the law, and that other draft regulations could be adopted to counter their strategies if necessary.

A public registry of all CITQ registration numbers should also be launched this fall, the office said.