Verifying illegal rentals must fall on Quebec government, argues Airbnb

Airbnb says it is ready to remove all offers of illegal accommodation on its site, but the company believes it is the government’s responsibility to verify the compliance of offers.

“What the Minister (of Tourism, Caroline Proulx) is asking us with Bill 25 is essentially to do the work of civil servants,” said Camille Boulais-Pretty, Airbnb’s policy advisor.

Proulx tabled the bill earlier this month aimed at combating illegal tourist accommodations.

Platforms like Airbnb will now have an obligation to ensure that accommodations displayed on their site comply with the law, otherwise they risk fines of up to $100,000 per illegal listing.

Bill 100 had made it compulsory to register accommodations for short-term rental but it is widely flouted in the province. Only 30 per cent of accommodation advertisements are legal in Quebec, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

Airbnb claims to have no data on the number of illegal offers.

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Bill 25 would impose a “too heavy” administrative burden on Airbnb, argues Boulais-Pretty.

“The platforms will have to do a manual check of each of the (registration) certificates and will have to check their validity.
“We do not have the role of the regulator. We do not have the power of the regulator. We don’t have the power of the police.”

Airbnb argues it is the responsibility of the government to do the necessary verifications. It ensures its full cooperation in removing the offending parties. A dedicated portal for this kind of inspection also allows the government to withdraw the offers itself.

This system is also in operation in the City of Ottawa, underlines the Airbnb policy advisor.

“The solution we are proposing would be a system by which the platforms would be required to withdraw, at the request of the government, the ads that the latter deems non-compliant,” argues Boulais-Pretty explained. “It is a system that is clear, that’s really applicable across the industry and keeps the platforms accountable.”

The latest crackdown on Airbnb began in the aftermath of the fatal fire in an Old Montreal heritage building that had been housing illegal short-term rentals.

—This report by La Presse Canadienne was first published in French and translated by CityNews