Searching the Airbnb map for local stops, there are not a lot of options for northeastern Saskatchewan, especially compared to Saskatoon or Regina.
The online rental platform lets local people list their homes as a potential place to stay for incoming travellers from all over the world. Being a fairly new concept, from a rental perspective, these are unregulated by town or city bylaws.
This is why they are becoming a topic of discussion for town councils in the northeast as the popular housing rental site continues to grow.
The Town of Hudson Bay advertises two Airbnb rentals on their website and so far these rentals have not caused any problems in the community, said Teresa Parkman, the administrator.
“We're on a very small scale of it, I guess, so we haven't had to deal with it yet.”
Jeff Hrynkiw, Nipawin’s land planning advisor and development officer, said they will have to discuss Airbnbs eventually at a council level. While Nipawin does have a tourism market, Airbnbs are not an issue yet compared to other condo laden cities.
Right now, Airbnbs fall under bed and breakfasts according to town zoning bylaws and they have refused some possible Airbnbs sites, he said.
Airbnb does make it easy for residents to rent out their properties while circumventing these bylaws and really, that is up to the property owner at this time, Hrynkiw said. However, regulating it at the town level is going to be important to future town councils.
Present regulations do not address Airbnbs in the City of Melfort, but Brent Lutz, the city’s development and planning director, said they are watching the issue very closely.
While they do regulate multi-level rentals and bed and breakfasts within town limits, an Airbnb rental does not fit within these regulations.
Lutz said they have been looking at Saskatoon’s research on the issue since they have the time and resources to dedicate to analyzing how the rentals will impact the city. Concerns may differ from Melfort to Saskatoon, he said.
“At this point, we've chosen not to regulate it until we get a better idea of what might be beneficial for our community.”
With no licensing or taxation on Airbnb properties, having a saturated market of rentals could impact commercial properties who do have these additional costs, Lutz said.
These properties are filling a demand and Lutz said he is seeing the benefits of having these properties available.
“We already recognize that we are somewhat short of temporary accommodations, whether it be in hotel rooms or what have you. These properties are offering that, the demand is there and it's either attracting or supporting people here in Melfort.”
Concerns that are arising from these rentals are more community-based. If these rentals are going to cause issues with traffic, parking, or public safety, these are going to be addressed by council within the city bylaws.
For right now, it is the wait-and-see game, Lutz said, whether more regulation is needed.
