Quebec pats itself on back for Airbnb crackdown, but some say nothing's changed

The Quebec government says its effort to crack down on illegal, short-term rentals is working, but not everyone agrees with that self-assessment.

"Seven months later, we have 90 per cent conformity," said Caroline Proulx, the province's tourism minister. 

And, she added, the province is striving to get that number up to 100 per cent, even if it means adopting further regulations.

Under the new rules, enacted on Sept. 1, companies like Airbnb must now ensure that all short-term rental listings on their sites are legal or risk facing fines of up to $100,000 per illegal post. 

This includes verifying the validity of registration numbers required for all listings, as many hosts have been found to use fake numbers to circumvent the law. Individuals caught using a bogus registration number can now be fined up to $50,000.

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Quebec already had similar rules in place, but with minimum enforcement. Compliance was at 58 per cent back in August. Now, not only is compliance up, but the number of listings has dropped, Proulx's office announced Thursday.

In the Montreal region, listings fell by about 20 per cent, according to information provided to the ministry by AirDNA, a company that collects data on short-term rentals across global markets.

At the same time, the number of registrations issued by the Corporation de l'industrie touristique du Québec (CITQ) has increased by 67 per cent since the new regulations came into effect, rising from 1,911 to 3,202 certificates between Sept. 1 and March 1.

And while Proulx's office is touting these numbers as a success, housing groups paint a different picture. Last week, Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) announced it has not seen any changes on the ground since the new rules were implemented. 

La Presse article says listings on the rise

An article published by the digital news service La Presse on Friday relies on data from the RCLALQ and Inside Airbnb, a watchdog that highlights Airbnb's impact on residential communities. The article suggests the number of available listings has actually gone up.

Proulx told reporters at the national assembly on Thursday that she disagreed with the article, challenging its sourcing. In particular, she questioned Inside Airbnb's data and said the group was not an partner of the Ministry of Tourism.

She also told Radio-Canada's radio program Tout un Matin there were duplicates and errors in the organization's data.

In a statement to CBC, Inside Airbnb founder Murray Cox disputed Proulx's claims about the reliability of the organization's data and called the minister's statements unfounded.

He said Inside Airbnb's data is used worldwide by community groups, researchers, municipalities and journalists.

"It's unfortunate that Minister Proulx chose to attack the reliability of our data rather than address legitimate concerns from RCLALQ, the City of Montreal and others," he wrote. 

"Inside Airbnb has provided data on Montreal and Quebec City since 2015 and in the absence of transparent data from platforms or the province is one of the most reliable and trusted data sources available."

Too many loopholes, says housing group

A housing committee in the Montreal borough of Verdun told CBC News the new rules aren't addressing the problem.

"If you just end up paying fines, it kind of just becomes the cost of doing business, right?" said Lyn O'Donnell of the Comité d'action des citoyennes et citoyens de Verdun.

She said Airbnb should be banned in Quebec. 

"There are clearly too many loopholes to be exploited in the middle of a housing crisis," she said. "There's really no reason to be allowing all this to happen."

Proulx, on the other hand, said banning short-term rentals would lead to an increase in illegal listings.

Bill 25 requires all online advertising for accommodations to have an up-to-date registration number that is only provided with proof of municipal approval.

Montreal pushes for more provincial help

In Montreal, some boroughs like Verdun only allow the owner's primary residence to be rented. But city officials say Montreal doesn't have the tools to enforce that rule and it has asked the province to help.

Revenu Québec would have the information needed to identify primary residences and that's what the city needs, said Despina Sourias, who sits on Montreal's executive committee as the associate councillor for housing, sanitation and protection of the city's rental housing stock.

Quebec Solidaire's tourism spokesperson, Étienne Grandmont, agreed on Thursday that Revenu Québec could help municipal inspectors to do their job and he questioned Proulx's claims of success. 

"Are these registration numbers the correct ones?" He said. "Are these fake numbers? Are these numbers used for multiple residences? Is it indeed the primary residence of the person posting on that platform?"

Proulx said Revenu Québec does not keep a register that would identify a person's primary residence.

However, she said, a new digital tool will be available in June to automatically verify each listing's validity. Currently, verification is done manually.