Prince George City Council will continue to try and “opt-out” of the province’s Short-Term Accommodations Act, even though the City is ineligible.
Under the act, people living in communities with more than 10,000 people would not be allowed to buy multiple properties for short-term rentals.
According to a report presented to Council tonight (Monday), the “opt-out” option is only available for municipalities with vacancy rates of three per cent or greater for two consecutive years.
However, according to data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the City of Prince George had a vacancy rate of 2.8 per cent in 2023.
This means the earliest possible year the City could seek an exemption is 2026.
“The arbitrary data required from the province in this instance is frustrating,” said Councillor Kyle Sampson.
“Frankly, for me this is just another example of the provincial government stepping into our lane, and worrying about our jurisdiction of governance while not filling their responsibilities.”
Sampson put forward a motion to “request to opt-out despite not meeting the criteria.”
Councillor Cori Ramsay noted the CMHC’s data is incomplete, stating that in the “Row” portion of their data for Prince George, there is no data for 3-plus bedrooms for 2023.
“I do think, in my opinion, this lack of data is throwing off our vacancy rate,” she said.
“I think [Councillor Ramsay] makes a compelling argument, I think the data is questionable, I don’t think it’s reliable, really we’re talking about 0.2 per cent and we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” said Councillor Ron Polillo.
“It is a one-size fits all approach, it may work in the Lower Mainland, it may work in the Okanagan, it may work in Squamish and Whistler, but I don’t think it works for Prince George. We’ve heard loud and clear from the community this is needed for various reasons.”
Councillor Trudy Klassen said due to Prince George being a hub city, short-term rentals are needed.
“Because we’re a hub city, we attract people coming to hospice, cancer treatment, etc., professionals coming here, nurses coming here,” she said.
“This is not going to work for us whether our data is unreliable or not.”
Council voted unanimously to request to opt out, stating the “statistically unreliable” data, and regional needs.
Other items discussed at tonight’s meeting included a report on the city’s road and sidewalk projects done last year, as well as an updated electronic fare collection system for BC Transit.
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