Tag Archives: 3% tax on short term rentals

Housing

RIEP Presentation: Affordable Housing Across The Islands

One of the 2025 RIEP Virtual Forum presentations was a panel discussion of how the affordable housing societies were faring on six rural islands. There were a lot of common themes running throughout their stories: difficulties obtaining funding through BC Housing, CMHC and other organizations whose requirements are drawn up for urban rather than rural areas; the cost of building on remote islands; relationships with regional districts and Islands Trust; and water issues. The moderator was Mike Hoebel from the  Galiano Affordable Living Initiative Society (GALI).

Mike Hoebel: “The lack of affordable housing is truly a crisis in our communities and housing policy was a major item for discussion back at the RIEP 2023 In-Person Forum Gabriola. Today we’re going to hear from a number of people about housing related initiatives underway in their communities.”

Continue reading RIEP Presentation: Affordable Housing Across The Islands →
Housing

Cortes Housing talks about Aquifers, Rental Opportunities & More

There has been a lot going on at the Cortes Community Housing Society. They are starting to provide housing for the community, are supporting changes to the island’s bylaws and are acting as a matchmaker for potential renters and landlords. However the first story I want to cover this morning is about the aquifer study that is about to begin.  

“We just received a grant from the Real Estate Foundation to develop an aquifer health assessment for our island. A lot of the islands south of us are having water problems and we really want to get ahead of this by being proactive and understanding what’s happening on our own island.  With climate change, obviously many of the assumptions of how things work are changing, but getting baseline and putting in together some things that we as a community can do to protect our water systems seems important to do before we have the kind of problems that we’ve seen  in other communities,” explained Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Housing Society.  

Continue reading Cortes Housing talks about Aquifers, Rental Opportunities & More →
Housing

Cortes Island Opts in to BC Short Term Rental Act; Quadra Considering

Effective May 1, 2024, all BC communities with a population over 10,000 have to limit short term rentals to the host’s principle residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit. Campbell River, Comox, Courtenay and Powell River are all on the list of  64 communities where this applies. Cortes Island is too small to be on that list, but has chosen to opt in, and Quadra Island is considering the idea. 

Continue reading Cortes Island Opts in to BC Short Term Rental Act; Quadra Considering →
Politics

Mark Vonesch’s First Year In Office: Things ‘Accomplished’ and ‘In Process’

Mark Vonesch is very passionate about Cortes Island and his activities as Regional Director. If this were a video, rather than a radio broadcast, you would see this it in his facial expressions. There is a hint of this passion in the words he chose and the tone of his voice. 

Cortes Currents asked him for a recap of this past year and what to expect going forward into 2024.  

Continue reading Mark Vonesch’s First Year In Office: Things ‘Accomplished’ and ‘In Process’ →
Housing

Burnaby: Higher fines may be coming for short-term rentals

Editor’s note: An increasing number of communities are enacting regulations around short term rentals. Cortes Island has a 3% tax on short term rentals. Some residents need the revenue that STRs provide in order to survive, but 63% of the respondents to the Cortes Island Housing Survey said people should only operate short term rentals on land that includes their primary residence (I.E. – no off island owners). 21% voted against this.

Lubna El Elaimy, Burnaby Beacon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During the special committee of council’s meeting on Dec. 6, committee members voted to send a letter to the attorney general and minister of municipal affairs to increase the maximum daily penalties under the Local Government Bylaw Notice Enforcement Act (LGBNEA) for owners of short-term rental (STR) accommodations. 

Continue reading Burnaby: Higher fines may be coming for short-term rentals →