The draft By-Law to License, Regulate and Govern Short-Term Rental Accommodation Businesses in Kawartha Lakes, was approved by Council at the June 20 Regular Council Meeting, with the following amendments:

• That Child or Children be defined as individuals aged fifteen (15) years and under.
• That Section 2.011 be amended to confirm that no person or licensee shall permit an un-hosted Short Term Rental Accommodation to any person under the age of twenty-five (25) years old.
• That Sections 2.02 (d) and (e) be deleted.

The municipality’s Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing Office has started work on rolling out the new licensing program with details set to be shared with the public as soon as they are available. For more information, read the Short Term Rental – Licensing Program Implementation report and the draft By-law to License, Regulate and Govern Short-Term Rental Accommodation Businesses in the City of Kawartha Lakes in the documents section on the right.

For recent press and media in regards to Short Term Rentals in Kawartha Lakes view the Media Coverage section on the right.

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Aaron Sloan, Manager, Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing, along with Councillor Charlie MacDonald, Chair of the Short Term Rental (STR) Licensing Program Task Force presented the findings of the STR Licensing Program Task Force to Council at the June 6 Committee of the Whole meeting. The report and the presentations were received by Council and will return for review and/or adoption at the June 20, Regular Council Meeting.

The role of the STR Licensing Program Task Force was to review the proposal and the Short Term Rental draft by-law. The Task Force met five different times from April to May to review and discuss the program.

Highlights of the Task Force:

• Demerit Point System; seven demerit points will be a six-month license suspension, 15 demerit points and your STR license will be revoked.
• Received buy-in for By-law Officers to work later into the evenings, buy-in from the OPP to work with By-law, and buy-in from Kawartha Lakes Police Service to assist during the peak months of July and August on weekends and long-weekends this year if needed.
• Hired a third-party service to take customer service and complaint calls regarding STRs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Developed a red flag system; example: any STR with four bedrooms or more might need an inspection before a license is approved.
• Developed a license fee for both hosted and un-hosted accommodations; the fees will ensure that the program is self-sufficient.
• Proposed a soft rollout of the program that ends January 1, 2024. It’ll be run for the remainder of the year, data will be collected and provided back to Council in early 2024. At that point, adjustments can be made to the program and the by-law by Council.

The Short Term Rental Licensing Program Implementation report, updated draft By-law to License, Regulate and Govern Short-Term Rental Accommodation Businesses in the City of Kawartha Lakes, and the minutes from all of the Task Force meetings can be found in the documents section on the right.

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Below are the updates that were previously place on the main page feed:

Council has struck a Task Force to refine the proposed STR Licensing Program and accompanying By-law. Thank you for being a part of this project. Your feedback was included in the proposed program.

The final Short Term Rental Task Force Meeting was May 24, the minutes for all of the task force meetings can be found in the documents section on the right. The findings from the Task Force meetings will be brought to Committee of the Whole on Tuesday June 6 at 10am; the agenda for the meeting can be viewed here.

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The first Task Force meeting was on Wednesday, April 26. The minutes from the first meeting will be posted on the meeting’s calendar page when available.

The next Short Term Rental Licensing Program Task Force meeting is set for Wednesday, May 3 from 8:30am to 11:30am in Council Chambers at City Hall in Lindsay. View the agenda for the second task force meeting. While the meeting will not be broadcast electronically, the public is welcome to attend the meeting in Council Chambers. Please note that there will be no public participation at the task force meetings.

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In the Regular Council Meeting on April 18, the Short Term Rentals – Regulation Options report to Council was received, Option 2 was approved, and a Task Force was established to work with City Staff to make recommendations for the Short Term Rental Licensing program and by-law. The Task Force will consist of Councillors McDonald, Joyce, and Perry along with Deputy Mayor Richardson, they will return to Council with their findings and recommendations by end of June 2023.

The first Short Term Rental Licensing Program Task Force meeting is scheduled for April 26 at 11am in Council Chambers at City Hall. The public is welcome to attend the meeting but there will be no public participation.

View the Short Term Rental Licensing Program Task Force meeting agenda.

If you missed the meeting, you can watch it on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mrYCMjYnwY

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Short Term Rentals headed to Council for the April 4 Committee of the Whole meeting. View the Short Term Rentals - Regulation Options Report, Presentation and the updated Draft By-Law, that went to Council in the documents section on the right.

If you missed the April 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting, you can view it on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEMkzTnCiMs

The April 4 Committee of the Whole meeting was put into recess. Council will return to deliberate the Short Term Rentals - Regulation Options Report, along with any other agenda items that were missed, on the morning of April 18. Join us in Council Chambers or tune into our live broadcast on Cogeco or our YouTube channel. Later that afternoon, Council will decide on next steps for Short Term Rentals at the Regular Council Meeting starting at 1pm.