Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.’s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
Investigations into non-compliant companies and individual hosts will be conducted by a provincial enforcement unit, which will launch once the new rules take effect on May 1.
The Ministry of Housing said daily penalties will range from $500 to $5,000 for hosts, depending on the infraction, and reach as high as $10,000 for corporations.
Speaking at a news conference in Langley, Premier David Eby reiterated that the purpose of the province’s regulations is to open up thousands of potential long-term housing units that are currently being offered year-round on apps such as Airbnb and VRBO.
“The commitment that we have as government is to ensure that the housing stock that we have – the homes that are actually built – are available for people who are looking for a place to live,” Eby said.
The premier acknowledged his family, like many others in the province, has benefited from the availability of short-term rentals, and stressed that those types of accommodations will not be banned outright next month.
But the government previously calculated there were 19,000 whole homes being used exclusively as short-term rentals last year.
“I can tell you there are 19,000 families and individual that are looking for a place to live … right now that are in competition with people who are looking to operate homes like hotels,” Eby said.
The upcoming regulations
Under the new rules, hosts can still rent out their primary residence, as well as one “additional unit, secondary suite or laneway home” on the same property, according to the ministry.
Those rules apply in every B.C. community with more than 10,000 residents, and to any others that opt in – as several already have, including Tofino, Pemberton, Osoyoos and Bowen Island. The rules will take effect in those smaller communities in November.
And once the regulations take effect, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon stressed that guests themselves “will not face any fines.”
“We encourage people to continue to explore beautiful British Columbia, and stay in legal short-term rental accommodations,” Kahlon said.
Officials have recommended anyone planning to stay in a short-term rental on or after May 1 reach out to the host to confirm that the unit will be in compliance.
It’s unclear which violations will potentially cost platforms $10,000 per day. The government has said companies will be required to share user data to help municipalities and the province conduct their own enforcement, as the regulations also give local bylaw officers the ability to impose fines of up to $3,000 per day on hosts.
Platforms will be expected to remove listings from non-compliant users under some circumstances as well.
Airbnb touts economic benefits
The announcement from officials came hours after Airbnb shared an “economic analysis” estimating that the platform generated more than $2.5 billion in economic benefits across the province last year.
According to the company, for every $100 a guest spent on an Airbnb rental, they spent about $229 on other local goods and services.
“B.C.’s new short-term rental law is going to significantly impact the province’s tourism sector, just as peak tourism season arrives – taking extra income away from residents, limiting accommodation options for guests, and potentially putting at risk billions in tourism spending and economic impact,” Nathan Rotman, Canadian policy lead at Airbnb, said in a statement.
But officials have claimed the pending rules are already having a positive effect on housing availability – addressing a major crisis in the province – as former hosts choose to either become landlords or put their properties up for sale.
Kahlon said some companies, such as Expedia and Booking.com, have been “actively working to get ready for the coming changes,” and that he’s hopeful other platforms will follow suit by May 1.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
