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

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - 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.  “With that legislation came the option for smaller communities like Cortes Island, or electoral areas within the SRD, to be able to opt in. We can say, ‘yes, we want that legislation as well.’  So in December, I worked with the Cortes Housing Society and we put on a housing forum, and we put out a housing survey,”  explained Regional Director Mark Vonesch of Cortes Island.  “What are people's thoughts on solutions? Polling some people on some specific questions like ‘should Cortes opt into BC legislation that says you can only run an Airbnb on your primary residence property?  The results came in overwhelmingly in support of the government legislation, a ratio of 3 to 1.”