Kelowna, B.C.’s waterfront is still quiet, but it won’t be long before visitors return.
This year, tourism operators are hoping the province’s move to loosen short-term rental restrictions will translate into a stronger season, after what many describe as two flat summers.
“I think will be just a really good relief for a lot of businesses and a lot of people,” said restaurateur Casey Greabeiel.
Greabeiel said the restrictions played a role in last year’s closure of Salt and Brick, one of his three restaurants.
He’s hoping the addition of more short-term rental units will mean a much-needed boost at his two other locations, Diner Deluxe and Pretty Not Bad.
But he said he’s not expecting a big impact this summer, with the June 1 exemption coming as many summer plans are already booked.
“I think everybody has to be cautiously optimistic,” Greabeiel said. “Announcing this, you know, a little bit late in the game…but I do think it’s positive.”
But as short-term rental hosts prepare to welcome tourists, for some, the process has been frustrating and costly.
“I was in excess of 15 (thousand) to $18,000 that was just gone in an instant,” said Taylor Cameron, a short-term rental host.
Cameron has legally operated a short-term rental at her principle residence for four years. However, when she went to renew on the provincial registry a day before the April 10th deadline, she says the system recognized it as a new application and not a renewal.
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That delayed the process and caused her registration to expire, which then trigged Airbnb to automatically cancel bookings.
“That’s a system failure and there was very little acknowledgement or empathy to the chaos that they created and caused, shutting down businesses instantly,” Cameron said. “I know of at least, probably 50 to 60 that had this happen to them.”
Cameron said what added to the frustration is it took days to connect with a government representative to fix the problem.
While reservations are getting rebooked slowly, Cameron said the ordeal has been extremely stressful.
“I have not recouped April and May,” she said. “I’m a single homeowner. This is my retirement plan. This is my affordable housing plan.”
The minister responsible said she’s aware some hosts have had challenges, but added that thousands have been able to renew without any issues.
“There’s a 40-day window for renewal and we encourage folks to get started on that early, so that if there is a technical challenge or another challenge, there’s a good amount of time staff are available to provide support and resolve any issues,” said Christine Boyle, B.C.’s minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs.
The provincial registry was launched in the spring of 2025, with one of the goals aimed at preventing illegal operators.
But Cameron said it feels the system is instead hurting hosts like her, who are doing everything by the book.
“I’m having a hard time constantly, really putting together the true impact of all this,” she said.
The exemption to the short-term rental restrictions in Kelowna takes affect June 1st.
So far, about 20 building stratas have applied to operate as short-term rentals.
As of late last week, the city said it had received more than 300 business licence applications from individual owners of the units in those buildings.
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