Short-Term Rentals in BC Stratas: The 2024 Provincial Rules

The short term rental strata BC 2024 picture is one of the more complicated overlays in BC strata law. Three layers of regulation, provincial, municipal, and strata, now stack on top of every Airbnb, VRBO, or vacation rental in the province, and they don't always say the same thing. Bill 35 (the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act) came into full effect on May 1, 2024 and added the principal-residence rule and a provincial registry to the existing patchwork of municipal STR licensing and strata bylaws. We've helped Sea-to-Sky owners navigate every version of this regime since the first municipal STR licences appeared in Whistler, and the 2024 framework, while strict, is workable once you understand the layers.

The three-layer framework

A short-term rental in a BC strata is governed by up to three sets of rules at once:

1. Provincial rules under Bill 35. The principal-residence requirement, the 90-day exemption, the provincial registry, and platform compliance obligations.
2. Municipal bylaws. Local STR licensing, zoning restrictions, occupancy limits, and parking rules. Vary by city.
3. Strata bylaws. Building-level restrictions on STRs, including outright bans, minimum-stay requirements, and fines for contraventions.

The most restrictive rule in this stack applies. If the province permits an STR but your strata bans them, you can't operate. If your strata permits STRs but the municipality requires a licence you don't have, you can't operate. All three must be satisfied.

What Bill 35 actually says

Bill 35's two operational rules are the 90-day threshold and the principal-residence requirement.

The 90-day threshold defines what counts as a "short-term rental" under the Act: any rental of less than 90 consecutive days. A 91-day rental is a long-term rental and is governed by the Residential Tenancy Act, not Bill 35. This single number does most of the work, owners who want to rent without triggering Bill 35 simply structure rentals at 90+ days.

The principal-residence requirement says that in communities with populations over 10,000 (and several opt-in smaller communities), a host can only operate an STR in:

• Their principal residence (the home they live in for the majority of the year), plus
• Up to one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property

Investment-property STRs, where the owner doesn't live in the unit, are no longer permitted in these communities. This is the headline change from 2024 and it removed a meaningful portion of pre-existing Airbnb inventory in covered cities like Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, and Nanaimo.

SPA s. 141 (post-Bill 44) confirms that stratas retain authority over short-term rentals through bylaws, so the provincial rule sits alongside, not on top of, strata authority.

The principal-residence test

The Province defines "principal residence" with reference to ordinary indicia: where you receive mail, where you file taxes, where your driver's licence is registered, and where you actually sleep most nights. A vacation home you visit four weekends a year is not your principal residence.

If you own and operate an STR in a covered community, you must be prepared to demonstrate principal residence with:

• Driver's licence or BC services card address
• Income tax filing address
• Utility bills in your name
• A pattern of presence (mail, banking, employment)

Enforcement is administrative, the Province can issue penalties under the Act, and the Compliance and Enforcement Unit has audit authority over hosts and platforms.

The provincial registry

The Short-Term Rental Registry was rolled out as part of the Bill 35 framework. Every STR operator in BC must:

1. Register with the Province and obtain a registration number
2. Display the registration number on every platform listing
3. Provide the number to the strata corporation upon request
4. Renew annually

Platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, etc.) are required to verify registration numbers and remove non-compliant listings. The Province has audit rights and shares data with municipalities and, increasingly, with strata corporations enforcing their own bylaws.

For strata councils, the registry is a useful enforcement tool: any owner operating an unregistered STR is contravening provincial law, which strengthens the strata's hand in any bylaw-fine dispute at the CRT.

Communities exempt from the principal-residence rule

Several BC resort communities are exempt from Bill 35's principal-residence requirement because STRs are central to the local economy. The current exempt list includes:

• Resort Municipality of Whistler
• Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality
• Tofino, Ucluelet, Radium Hot Springs
• Smaller communities under 10,000 (default exemption)
• Several other resort-classified municipalities

Communities can opt in to the principal-residence rule by council resolution. Several smaller communities did opt in during 2024 to manage rapid STR growth. The Province maintains a current list, updated as municipalities change their status.

In an exempt community, the provincial principal-residence rule doesn't restrict STR operation. But the registry requirement, the 90-day threshold, the platform compliance rules, and any strata bylaws all still apply. Exempt does not mean unregulated.

What strata bylaws can still do

Bill 44 (the long-term rental deregulation) did not affect short-term rentals at all. Bill 35 explicitly preserves strata authority over STRs. So stratas continue to have full bylaw authority to:

• Ban short-term rentals entirely
• Set minimum-stay periods (e.g., 30 days, 90 days, 6 months)
• Restrict the number of nights per year a unit may be rented short-term
• Require owner notification, registration with the strata, or use of approved platforms
• Impose fines up to $1,000 per day for STR contraventions under the Strata Property Regulation

A strata that wants STRs banned should do this through bylaws, a 3/4 vote at AGM under SPA s. 128, and file the amended bylaws at the Land Title Office. The CRT has repeatedly upheld STR bylaws against owner challenges, including fines and enforcement orders for unauthorized rentals.

How owners should think about the layers

If you're a BC strata owner considering a short-term rental, the decision tree is:

1. What does my strata bylaw say? Read it first. Many BC stratas now ban STRs outright. If yours does, stop here, no further analysis needed.
2. Am I in a community covered by the provincial principal-residence rule? Check the Province's current list. If yes, only your principal residence (plus one secondary) qualifies.
3. Is the rental 90+ days? If yes, Bill 35 doesn't apply. You're in long-term-rental territory governed by the RTA and your strata bylaws.
4. Have I registered with the Province? Required for STR operation. Display the number on all listings.
5. Have I checked the municipal bylaw? Many cities have their own STR licensing on top of provincial and strata rules.

Most owners we work with simplify by either operating fully compliant in their principal residence or shifting to 90+ day rentals to avoid Bill 35 entirely. Some choose to sell the unit if the strata bylaw bans STRs and the unit was bought as an investment.

For a step-by-step guide to renting compliantly under either regime, see renting out your strata unit.

How councils should think about the layers

For strata councils, Bill 35 changed three things:

1. More owners are asking about STRs. The principal-residence rule pushed displaced investment-property owners to consider STRs in places like Whistler, where they're still permitted at the provincial level. Strata bylaws are now the binding constraint.
2. Enforcement is easier. The provincial registry gives councils a clear test for whether an STR is operating in compliance with the layer above the strata bylaw. Unregistered STRs are a direct provincial contravention and a strong factor in bylaw-fine cases.
3. Bylaw updates are timely. Many BC stratas have STR bylaws written before 2018 with weak fine structures or unclear definitions. Now is a good time to update, clearer language, $1,000/day fine, explicit reference to provincial registration.

For the Whistler and Pemberton specifics, see Whistler and Pemberton short-term rental rules. For how Bill 44 changed long-term rentals, see strata rental bylaws after Bill 44. For the tenant-side compliance step, see our Form K guide.

The path forward

The 2024 STR framework will continue to evolve. The Province has signalled that registration enforcement will tighten, the principal-residence rule may extend to additional communities, and platform-data sharing with municipalities will increase. The trend is toward more, not less, regulation of short-term rentals.

For owners, the safest position is full compliance at every layer, strata bylaw, provincial rule, municipal licence, and clear documentation of principal residence where applicable. For councils, the safest position is a clean STR bylaw with current fine levels, a defined enforcement process, and a working relationship with a manager who tracks compliance.

If your strata needs help drafting or updating an STR bylaw, building an enforcement workflow, or interpreting the layers for a specific owner situation, our team handles this kind of work across Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton.