Cortes Islanders aren’t against hosting tourists, but they want to make sure locals have a place to live, first.
A recent survey shows the Island is overwhelmingly in favour of restricting short-term rentals, including AirBnB.
This week the Strathcona Regional District board agreed Cortes and Quadra Islands can opt in to new provincial legislation to regulate rentals.
Cortes Island regional director Mark Vonesch says the impacts on tourism will likely be minimal, and this is about making sure locals have enough housing.
“Basically every business on Cortes struggles to run at capacity because of lack of housing for employees,” he told the board this week. “And there sort of is the sentiment on Cortes that if you live in Victoria and you decide to buy a piece of land on Cortes, and you don’t want to live in it, you want to keep it empty, that you either need to rent it out, or use it for family members. It can’t just be used as a business.”
The provincial legislation takes effect May 1, and will restrict short-term rentals to the host’s principal residence, secondary suite, or accessory dwelling unit. Communities under 10,000 people are exempt, but can opt in, as Cortes has done, to gain access to laws and tools to regulate short-term rentals.
