Canmore could phase out tourist homes as part of newly drafted housing action plan

The Town of Canmore has drafted a new housing action plan, which lists four main initiatives to combat its ongoing housing crisis — including phasing out tourist homes to open up vacancy for permanent and long-term residents.

Other initiatives include tax policies to incentivize rental development and long-term occupancy of units, and changes to land use bylaws.

The action plan could be changed when it's brought to council for approval next Tuesday.

The finalized plan will be used for the town to apply for federal funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund, aimed to boost housing supply across the country — though Canmore officials say the plan will be pursued regardless of the application outcome.

"We are in a housing crisis. Left unattended, it will change our community character and we'll lose so many who make our community what it is," said Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert in a press conference Thursday.

According to the report, the price of housing in Canmore has increased by 65 per cent since 2006, compared with the provincial average of 37 per cent.

Therese Rogers, Canmore's general manager of corporate services, says the town has been working to combat the housing crisis for years, but bold moves are needed now.

"Although we have undertaken many, many initiatives, the impact of those initiatives has not been significant enough to make a change in the community," said Rogers.

Phasing out tourist homes

Tourist homes — residential units that are rented out short-term through platforms like Airbnb and VRBO or directly through landlords — are only allowed in certain areas of Canmore.

If approved, they'll be phased out under the action plan. Administration is recommending that council remove the tourist home designation in the land use bylaw.

"No new tourist homes would be approved moving forward," states the report.

"Existing tourist homes would become legally non-confirming — meaning they could continue to operate as a tourist home, unless the use ceased for six consecutive months, at which point they would revert to a residential use."

It could come with increased fines for property owners who rent out units short term without approval.

"We believe there are residential units that are not allowed to be used for short term rentals that are being rented out under the guise of long term rental, which must be stopped," says Krausert.

Tax policies, land use bylaw changes

Another proposed initiative includes looking into a tax policy to incentivize landowners to build more rentals. Under this initiative, the town could incentivize certain forms of tenure, like long-term rentals, and remove incentives if the property were converted to ownership.

It also mentions investigating a tax policy to incentivize full-time and long-term occupancy of residential units. That could include a surcharge for vacant or underoccupied properties, and incentivizing development of vacant land.

The last initiative includes changes to land use bylaw — mostly with residential building heights and parking requirements.

Rogers says if the Housing Accelerator Fund application is successful, it would go towards infrastructure to build more housing.

Officials couldn't confirm how much money the town is eligible for or when the application will be officially submitted.