The provincial government of Quebec has proposed legislation that, if approved, would compel Airbnb and other short-term rental marketplaces to take action against unlawful postings or risk paying substantial fines.
Caroline Proulx, the minister of tourism, presented Bill 25, An Act to Combat Illegal Tourist Accommodation, on Tuesday in the National Assembly. It aims to regulate short-term rentals and make internet platforms responsible for ensuring that the lodgings offered on their websites adhere to Quebec and local regulations.
It follows a fatal fire in a historic Old Montreal building that claimed seven lives in March, six of whom were guests in Airbnbs. Following the fire, Proulx promised to introduce a law before the end of May.
Without a current registration number and a current ministerial certificate, the measure would make it illegal to advertise lodgings online. It would also be illegal to enter into a short-term lease agreement for a stay in an illegally registered tourist lodging.
The Quebec government already mandates that anyone who provides short-term lodging register with the province. The platforms’ operators would now be in charge of implementing a number of new regulations.
Companies like Airbnb would be required, under the new law, to maintain records of each registration certificate for each marketed property. The measure also calls for the establishment of a public registry of lodgings for travelers, which would be managed by the tourism ministry or an organization that has been approved by the minister.
The bill also provides penalties for breaking the law when it is passed. Individuals might be subject to fines of $5,000 to $50,000, while businesses could be hit with fines of $10,000 to $100,000 for each posting.
According to Airbnb, each of these listings had a registration number, but a closer examination revealed that at least 2,678 of them belonged to a group where two or more properties shared a government identification number, which could be against the law.
