Orillia homeowners offering small short-term rentals are either shutting down or struggling to afford the city's "atrocious" annual licensing fee of $2,040.
Rachel Edwards, of Orillia, runs a one-bedroom Airbnb from her home, offering accommodation for $125 a night. She has refused to pay the licensing fee as she said "it's not worth it" to run the home business.
"My home is rather small. I have a two-person maximum. It's a private bedroom and a bathroom. We make them feel at home. I'm not the giant waterfront homeowner with 10 bedrooms who lives in Toronto," she said.
"They've had a few bad apples and (the city) has painted us with the same brush and nobody can answer questions."
With a nightly fee of less than $200, owners have to rent the room more than 10 times just to pay back the licensing fee, whereas someone running a large short-term rental at $700 a night can pay that fee in a long weekend or someone renting a large waterfront home for $1,000 a night can pay it in a weekend.
Jeff Rogers, the city's manager of bylaw enforcement services, explained the program.
"Orillia's short-term rental accommodation licensing fee is the same regardless of the size of the rental space or the number of bedrooms. The 2025 licence fee is $2,040, and the fee is intended to offset the costs to administer and enforce the short-term rental accommodation licensing bylaw throughout the city," he said.
On Christmas Eve, Edwards was hand-delivered registered mail saying she would be fined if she continues to operate her Airbnb without paying the licensing fee.
"It's been a wild ride," said Edwards.
The first guest in Edwards's home was an OPP officer. She's also had Hydro One workers, and people looking for a place to stay during the Mariposa Folk Festival.
"We are providing a needed housing service for people. It was all going so well," Edwards said.
She built her unit to be a bed and breakfast, which doesn't have a licensing fee, but the city considers her space a short-term rental.
Helen Kerkhof is in the same boat. In November, she started short-term renting one bedroom with a bathroom and a wet bar in the basement of her west Orillia home for $125 a night.
There are no cooking or laundry facilities. A bylaw officer visited and determined there was a kitchen (due to the wet bar) and told her she had to pay the licensing fee.
"They shut me down. I've been shut down for a couple of months," said Kerkhof.
"It's not fair. I thought I was under the bed and breakfast category, where there is no fee."
She said she does not run a party house.
"Mine's nice and cozy and quiet."
Rogers confirmed there is no licensing fee for bed and breakfast establishments.
"The differences between the two is that a short-term rental can be a private apartment or basement suite, or even an entire house, whereas a bed and breakfast establishment cannot be a private apartment or basement suite and is essentially a room being rented within the host's principal residence and there are shared amenities such as a kitchen and other living space," he said.
If property owners would like to establish bed and breakfasts in Orillia, Rogers recommends they reach out to the city in advance so they can ensure it meets the requirements of the city's zoning bylaw.
Lisa Day, who operates a one-bedroom Airbnb from her renovated basement, has paid the licensing fee, but she feels it's unfair to have to pay the amount the city charges. She has had to raise her rates to $150 a night to help accommodate the fee.
"There are no complaints coming from here. Bylaw is not coming here. I live right upstairs. There is not going to be a party," she said.
Because Day's rental space is a separate suite, she also has to pay more residential taxes and higher home insurance. Airbnb takes three per cent. As the unit has a gas fireplace, she also has to pay $250 a year for an annual inspection by the fire department. Plus, she's paid the costs of constructing and furnishing the rental space.
"The city is supporting the ghost hotels — the one that has the biggest footprint on the environment, the most amount of garbage, the parking issues, the party houses — and you are eliminating the people that support your community, that support the workers in your community, that support local," Day said.
"The ghost hotels, the waterfront ones, they make money. The ghost hotels are the issue. They need to deal with ghost hotels, meaning owners don't live here," she added, noting she typically rents to doctors and tourists.
The city approved a bylaw to regulate short-term accommodations and instituted a licensing fee as of January 2024 at $2,000 per year. The cost has increased to $2,040 since then.
Short-term accommodation owners must also collect a four per cent municipal accommodation tax.
Licensing was adopted by city council after receiving complaints about large numbers of people staying in short-term rentals, making excessive noise, accumulating garbage, having their dogs running at large, having open-air fires and parking vehicles on lawns and restricted areas.
City data show there were 115 short-term rental units operating in Orillia in 2023.
"Last year, there were 35 short-term rentals in Orillia," said Day.
The city's website now lists seven licensed locations.
Day says the low number reflects the difficulty owners of small short-term rentals have in paying the fee.
"I want changes. I want it more equitable for the different sizes of Airbnbs and owner-occupied Airbnbs," said Day.
Edwards and Kerkhof also said they would like to pay a fee that reflects the size of their short-term rental units and takes into consideration that they are responsible hosts living on the property.
"If there is a house with 10 bedrooms, they can afford $2,000. I'm only a one-bedroom who was getting $125 a night. How is that fair?" asked Kerkhof. "By the time I pay the licence fee, the Airbnb fee and buy supplies, it's not worth it."
Edwards said, "I'll pay a fee but not an atrocious fee like that."
Rogers said the city "has observed strong compliance from operators.
"However, some operators have expressed concerns regarding the licence fee. The city is committed to ensuring a safe and equitable experience for both operators and guests."
