The District of Squamish staff is seeking the council’s permission to apply for the federal Short-Term Rental Enforcement Fund (STREF) to strengthen its regulation of short-term rentals. The grant application requires council approval before the January 23, 2025, deadline.
Launched on December 3, 2024, by Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada (HICC), STREF aims to help municipalities and Indigenous communities enforce short-term rental rules. The program is designed to address Canada’s housing shortages by keeping more homes available for long-term rentals.
Squamish plans to request funding to cover its short-term rental program costs for 2025 and 2026. This program includes business licensing, enforcement activities like inspections and legal actions, and management tasks such as monitoring and communication. The District also uses a third-party service, Granicus/Host Compliance, to identify and track short-term rental units.
Currently, 249 short-term rental units are advertised in Squamish, with 187 holding active business licenses—representing a compliance rate of about 75%. If granted, the funding would maintain the program’s current scope and allow the District to redirect license fee revenues to other municipal projects.
The short-term rental program aligns with Squamish’s strategic goal of promoting attainable housing, staff says. “While not a solution to the community’s housing challenges, the program supports protecting existing long-term rental units and mitigates their conversion to short-term accommodations,” the staff note in a report to the council.
Dennis Norlander says
How can this council promote tourism on tv right across Canada and around the world And then tell them there is no place to stay when you get here. And on top of that they want to take away all the parking. It is time to reelect a new council. They could’ve collected $10 million from thef floated but they blew that the feds are gonna give you nothing.. they are taking the beach front away as well . They put in a park and them build all around it with no parking lot and no boat launch . The road going down to the beach is to narrow and some one will get killed . If you want low coast housing the just approve land for that.