Accommodation Types

Visitor accomodation refers to a building or group of buildings not for residential use, rather only for short-term stays where sleeping facilities are provided for visitors for periods of up to 30 days. They may also contain a variety of services and amenities for the benefit of guests. Examples of visitor accomodation include hotels and motels. 

• Visitor accomodation (such as hotels) are permitted in specific areas that are zoned for that type of use. 
• This type of accomodation is designed for short-term visitor use; people may not live in these units. 
• Visitor accomodation must have a centralized booking system.
• Visitor accomodation may be promoted on short-term commercial listing sites such as AirBnB. 
• Operators of visitor accomodation units must obtain a business license and a development permit.

• The Town’s Land Use Bylaw identifies zones where visitor accomodation may or may not be allowed to operate. However, within the zones there may be only certain buildings or locations that allow visitor accomodation. Visitor accommodation is generally permitted within commercial zones such as Bow Valley Trail and the Downtown district.
• For more information on how specific properties are zoned, please see the property information viewer map to check land use zones. Using the map, click on a location and the property information will appear. Under the annual assessment, look at the Roll Number – Code. The two numbers and possibly a letter after the “-” will indicate the how the property is assessed. To learn more about what the numbers and letters mean, click on the “code” to see if the property is assessed as residential, a tourist home, or commercial.

A tourist home is any dwelling that can be used as a permanent residence or for short-term stays. The formal definition of a tourist home is: “a dwelling unit operated as a temporary place to stay, with or without compensation, and includes all vacation rentals of a dwelling unit." It can include an entire Dwelling Unit or just a single room. 

The characteristics that distinguish a tourist home from a dwelling unit used as a residence may include any of the following:

• the intent of the occupant to stay for short-term vacation purposes rather than use the property as a residence; and/or
• the commercial nature of a tourist home; and/or
• the management or advertising of the dwelling unit as a tourist home or “vacation rental,” on websites such as Airbnb or VRBO; and/or
• the use of a system of reservations, deposits, confirmations, credit cards, or other forms of electronic payment.

Examples of tourist homes includes short-term vacation rentals promoted on sites like AirBnB. 

• Tourist homes are permitted in specific areas that are zoned for that type of use. 
• Owners of tourist homes may use it for short- or long-term rentals (if they have a development permit to operate it as a tourist home), or as a permanent residence. If it is used as for rentals, the owner pays a higher property tax.
• Operators of tourist homes who wish to rent room(s) on a vacation rental website must obtain a business license, and a development permit.

• Few residential districts allow tourist homes today with only the two Silvertip residential districts and one sub-area of Teepee Town allowing this use. However, they are a permitted or discretionary use in almost all the commercial and mixed-use districts, such as along Bow Valley Trail and Railway Avenue.
• The Town’s Land Use Bylaw identifies zones where tourist homes may or may not be allowed to operate. However, within the zones there may be only certain buildings or locations that allow tourist homes. For general locations where tourist homes may be allowed, view this map: Tourist Home Districts.
• For more information on how specific properties are zoned, please see the property information viewer map to check land use zones. Using the map, click on a location and the property information will appear. Under the annual assessment, look at the Roll Number – Code. The two numbers and possibly a letter after the “-” will indicate the how the property is assessed. To learn more about what the numbers and letters mean, click on the “code” to see if the property is assessed as residential, a tourist home, or commercial.

Please note that the Town of Canmore is phasing out the Tourism Home - Personal Use designation as part of our Housing Action efforts to address the housing crisis in our community. Read more about what to expect.

Overview

A Tourist home is a sub-class of residential property. For property tax purposes, it is registered with the assessment class 21 (Tourist Home) or 21A (Tourist Home – Personal Use).  

If the titled owners declare Personal Use status at the beginning of the calendar year, the property is designated Tourist Home – Personal Use (THPU).  This means that the owner(s) have declared that the property will not be rented (short-term or long-term) for the entire calendar year.  The property is then taxed at the Tourist Home – Personal Use (THPU) rate which is equivalent to the residential tax rate.

If the property is rented for a short-term or long-term at any time during the year, the property is taxed at the Tourist Home tax rate (a little less than double the residential rate).

All Tourist Home and THPU properties default back to the Tourist Home assessment code (21) each year.

Who Qualifies

• To qualify for THPU the property must be owned by individuals (i.e. cannot be owned by a business/company). All owners on Title must complete the annual statutory declaration, witnessed by a Commissioner of Oaths, and submitted to the Town of Canmore no later than the annual due date. 
• If you own a home within the zoned Tourist Home area, to change your property assessment code to Tourist Home (21) or Tourist Home – Personal Use (THPU) (21A), your property must obtain a Development Permit from the Town of Canmore Planning & Development Department.  Please review the Vacation Rentals and Tourist Homes section of the Types of Development webpage and contact the Planning & Development for more information.

Declaring Personal Use

If you are NOT renting your property and would like to declare Personal Use in 2024

• If your statutory declaration is not received by the Town of Canmore by the deadline your property will be assessed and taxed at the Tourist Home tax rate. Your next opportunity to declare personal use will be the following calendar year.

• The declaration deadline has now passed.  If you have not already submitted a signed statutory declaration, your property will default to Tourist Home (Code 21) for this calendar year and you are entitled to rent your property short-term or long-term. If you are a new owner and have purchased this property prior to January 1, 2024, please contact taxes@canmore.ca to review the declaration option for 2024.

Renting Your Property

If you would like to rent your property (short-term or long-term) in 2024

• If you have not already submitted a signed statutory declaration, your property will default to Tourist Home (Code 21) for this calendar year and you are entitled to rent your property short-term or long-term.  If you did not declare Personal Use by the annual due date, your property will be designated Tourist Home for the entire calendar year. The next opportunity to declare Personal Use will be for the following calendar year.

• If you had previously submitted a statutory declaration for the 2024 tax year but would now like to rent your property (short-term or long-term) you must contact taxes@canmore.ca to revoke your declaration.

• Property taxes are not pro-rated based on a change part way through the year.

• The minimum fine for making a false declaration as per Town of Canmore Bylaw 2013-01 is $10,000.

Submit Your Application

Upload your scanned or photographed copy of the completed declaration here. By uploading your document to our site, you will receive a confirmation email once the form has been received and validated.

Alternatively, you can drop it off in person or mail it to 902 7 Avenue, Canmore, AB, T1W 3K1.  It is the owners’ responsibility to confirm that the declaration has been received an processed by the Town of Canmore prior to the deadline.

If you are looking to file a complaint against a tourist home you think is not being used appropriately, contact Municipal Enforcement.

A dwelling unit is a room/home where someone intends to live. A dwelling unit is characterized as a place in which people may reside as their primary or secondary residence. Examples of a dwelling unit include a primary residence which may be a detached dwelling, apartment, duplex, etc. 

• Dwelling units are permitted in the vast majority of our community with the exception of specific areas that are zoned for other uses. 
• This type of accomodation is designed for long-term residential stays.
• Dwelling units may NOT be promoted on short-term commercial listing sites such as AirBnB, unless it has been approved and licensed as a Bed and Breakfast, in which case up to three rooms may be rented for short-term stays.
• Dwelling units are for residential living. Regardless of whether you collect money or not, if you are using your home for short-term stays, it is considered a tourist home which requires specific permits and can only be operated in limited areas. 
• The Town of Canmore investigates complaints of dwelling units being rented illegally as tourist homes. If a property is found to be operating as an illegal tourist home, a Cease Use Order may be issued. The Town can also issue fines of $2,500 for the first offence and $5,000 for subsequent offences. The act of advertising the property as a vacation rental on websites such as Airbnb or VRBO can result in enforcement action by the Town.
• You are allowed to rent a room or your home long-term for people living in the community.

If you are looking to file a complaint against a residential dwelling unit you think is not being used appropriately, contact Municipal Enforcement.