This is a consolidation of the City of Ottawa Municipal Accommodation Tax By-law No. 2022-56. This version contains the following amending By-laws:
• By-law No. 2024-01
This consolidation of the By-law is current to January 24, 2024.
WHEREAS at its meeting of December 6, 2023, by way of Motion 2023-28-03, Council approved the 2024 budget including a one per cent increase to the Municipal Accommodations Tax (MAT) from four per cent to five per cent;
AND WHEREAS By-law No. 2023-549 confirms the proceedings of Council of December 6, 2023;
THEREFORE the Council of the City of Ottawa enacts as follows:
1. Subsection 2(1) of By-law 2022-56 entitled "A by-law of the City of Ottawa to establish the Municipal Accommodation Tax and to repeal By-law No. 2019-252", is repealed and the following subsection is substituted in its place:
2 (1) A purchaser shall, at the time of purchasing accommodation or transient accommodation, pay an accommodation tax in the amount of five per cent of the purchase price of the accommodation provided for a continuous period of less than 30 nights provided in a hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast, resort, hostel, dwelling unit, short-term rental, or any place in which accommodation is provided, including in the event of cancellation where the purchase price is payable.
2. This by-law is deemed to have come into force and take effect on January 1, 2024. ENACTED AND PASSED this 24th day of January 2024.
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to establish the Municipal Accommodation Tax and to repeal By-law No. 2019-252.
WHEREAS the City, may, by by-law, impose a tax in respect of the purchase of transient accommodation in the municipality in accordance with Part XII.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, Chapter 25, as amended, and the Transient Accommodation Tax Regulation 435/17;
AND WHEREAS at its meeting of December 13, 2017, Council approved the establishment of the transient accommodation tax to be imposed on the purchase of accommodations of short duration within the City of Ottawa, which will generate revenue which may be shared with designated non-profit entities who promote local tourism as further described in Regulation 435/17;
AND WHEREAS at its meeting of May 22, 2019 and April 28, 2021 Council approved certain administrative amendments to the Municipal Accommodation Tax By-law and this by-law implements such amendments;
THEREFORE the Council of the City of Ottawa enacts as follows:
In this by-law:
"accommodation" means any space made available for overnight stays including, but not limited to, a hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast, resort, hostel, dwelling unit, residential unit, or any place in which accommodation is provided.
"Auditor General" means the Auditor General of the City of Ottawa.
"Bed and Breakfast" means a residential unit that contains rooms offered for transient communication for a period less than 30 consecutive nights, and may include spaces for the provision of meals and other connected services and facilities and: (a) the remainder of the unit is the principal residence of the bed and breakfast operator which is not offered for transient accommodation; and (b) is not a hotel or a cottage rental;
"By-law Officer" means a person appointed by Council to enforce the provisions of this by-law and who may be referred to as an officer, inspector or municipal law enforcement officer;
"cancellation" means the event of no show or cancellation by the purchaser, where the full room rate is still charged and the MAT is applicable on the full room rate charged.
"cottage rental" means the whole or part of a residential unit or mobile home that is used to provide transient accommodation for a period less than thirty (30) consecutive nights and: (a) is not the principal residence of the operator; (b) is not a Bed and Breakfast, rooming house, or hotel; (c) is marketed or brokered through a short-term rental platform; and (d) is located in an area authorized under Section 121B of the Zoning By-law, or any successor provision thereto;
"Dedicated Short-Term Rental" means a short-term rental which: (a) has a legally established use as a hotel in accordance with the Zoning by-law prior to the coming into force of By-law 2021-106; (b) does not meet the definition of "hotel" within this By-law; and, (c) currently operates as a legally non-conforming hotel use for zoning purposes.
"Deputy City Treasurer, Revenue" means the individual holding the position of Deputy City Treasurer, Revenue in the Financial Services Department of the City of Ottawa, or an authorized representative;
"market" and "marketed" means to offer for rent, promote, canvass, solicit, advertise, or facilitate a short-term rental, but does not include the mere provision of a neutral space or location for such marketing in newspapers, bulletin boards, or online;
"Municipal Accommodation Tax" or "MAT" means the Municipal Accommodation Tax applicable on the purchase of accommodation as provided for in this by-law
"Provider of accommodation" shall mean any person(s) or entity(ies) who provides accommodations for consideration from a purchaser.
"purchaser" shall mean any person(s) who, in exchange for consideration with a provider of transient accommodations, obtains the right to stay in an accommodation.
"rooming house" means a residential unit, other than a group home, retirement home or converted retirement home, that: (a) is not used or intended for use as a residential premises by a household; or (b) is used or intended for use as a rental premises by a household and more than three roomers or boarders; or (c) contains more than eight bedrooms;
"short-term rental" means transient accommodation in the whole or part of a residential unit for a period of less than thirty (30) consecutive nights, and: (a) is marketed or brokered by a short-term rental platform; (b) is not a rooming house or hotel; and, (c) includes a bed and breakfast, a cottage rental, and a Dedicated Short-Term Rental as defined in this by-law;
"short-term rental platform" means any person who, for compensation, markets or brokers the booking, reservation, rental or listing of a short-term rental on behalf of a host by means of a website or digital application;
"transient accommodation" shall mean an accommodation made available to a purchaser(s) for a continuous period of less than 30 nights.
* As per By-Law No. 2024-1 to amend By-Law No. 2022-56 respecting Municipal Accommodation Tax, WHEREAS at its meeting of December 6, 2023, by way of Motion 2023-28-03, Council approved the 2024 budget including a one per cent increase to the Municipal Accommodations Tax (MAT) from four per cent to five per cent.
2. (1) A purchaser shall, at the time of purchasing accommodation or transient accommodation, pay an accommodation tax in the amount of four percent of the purchase price of the accommodation provided for a continuous period of less than 30 nights provided in a hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast, resort, hostel, dwelling unit, short-term rental, or any place in which accommodation is provided, including in the event of cancellation where the purchase price is payable.
(2) A provider of transient accommodation shall include on every invoice or receipt for the purchase of transient accommodation a separate item for the amount of tax on transient accommodation imposed on the purchase, and the item shall be identified as "Municipal Accommodation Tax"
3. (1) The municipal accommodation tax imposed by subsection 2(1) does not apply to:
(a) The Crown, every agency of the Crown in right of Ontario and every authority, board, commission, corporation, office, or organization of persons a majority of whose directors, members or officers are appointed or chosen by or under the authority of the Lieutenant Governor in Council or a member of the Executive Council;
(b) Every board as defined in subsection 1(1) of the Education Act;
(c) Every university in Ontario and every college of applied arts and technology and post-secondary institution in Ontario whether or not affiliated with a university, the enrolments of which are counted for the purposes of calculating annual operating grants entitlements from the Crown on accommodations provided to students while the student is registered at and attending the institution;
(d) Every hospital referred to in the list of hospitals and their grades and classifications maintained by the minister of Health and Long-Term Care under the Public Hospitals Act and every private hospital operated under the authority of a license issued under the Private Hospitals Act;
(e) Every long-term care home as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, retirement homes and hospices;
(f) Every treatment centre that receives provincial aid under the Ministry of Community and Social Services Act;
(g) Every house of refuge, or lodging for the reformation of offenders;
(h) Every charitable, non-profit philanthropic corporation organized as shelters for the relief of the poor or for emergency;
(i) Every tent or trailer site supplied by a campground, tourist camp or trailer park;
(j) Every accommodation supplied by employers to their employees in premises operated by the employer; and
(k) Every hospitality room in an establishment that does not contain a bed and is used for displaying merchandise, holding meetings, or entertaining.
(2) The municipal accommodation tax imposed by subsection 2(1) does not apply to Bed and Breakfast operators who submit an annual application to the City for an exemption from the payment of the Municipal Accommodation Tax, provided that the application is in the form prescribed by the City Treasurer and meets the following eligibility criteria to the satisfaction of the City Treasurer;
(a) The Bed and Breakfast establishment meets the definition of the Zoning By-law 2008-250, as amended;
(b) The Bed and Breakfast establishment is occupied and operated by the property owner, and is classified in the residential property tax class, and
(c) The accommodation purchases are invoiced by the Bed and Breakfast establishment and not a short-term rental platform.
4. (1) Providers of transient accommodation shall include on every invoice or receipt for the purchase of transient accommodation a separate item identified as "Municipal Accommodation Tax" for the amount of MAT imposed on the purchase.
(2) Providers of transient accommodation shall collect the MAT from the purchaser at the time the accommodation is purchased and shall remit the MAT to the tax collection agents designated by the municipality pursuant to section 5 within the time prescribed in any MAT notice and shall include monthly statements in the form required by the tax collection agents detailing the number of rooms nights sold, purchase price and levy collected.
5. (1) Notwithstanding subsection (3), the collection and administration of taxes to be remitted by providers of transient accommodation, pursuant to section 2, shall be collected by the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, as agents for the municipality, who shall collect the MAT from providers of transient accommodation.
(2) The Mayor and City Manager may designate additional tax collection agents for the municipality and enter into agreements with designated collection agents in consultation with the City Clerk and Solicitor and register short-term renal platforms as tax collection agents for the municipality.
(3) Short-term rental platforms shall collect the Municipal Accommodations Tax from short-term rental listings that are providers of transient accommodation and remit MAT payments to the City quarterly, as prescribed in this By-law.
(4) The Municipal Accommodations Tax revenue collected pursuant o subsections (1), (2) and (3) shall be reported by short-term rental platforms and tax collection agents to the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue, on a monthly basis detailing the number of room nights sold, purchase price, and levy collected as well as exemptions applied in accordance with this By-law.
6. Penalties and interest at the rate applicable to overdue property taxes shall be payable by the providers of transient accommodation on the non-payment of the full amount of the MAT by the due date set out in the notice, and interest may be added on the first day of default and on each month thereafter in which the default continues.
7. (1) Every provider of transient accommodation shall keep books of account, records, and documents sufficient to furnish the City's Auditor General and the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue and the City's designated tax collectors with the necessary particulars of sales of accommodation, amount of levy collected and remittance.
(2) The City's tax collectors designated pursuant to section 5 may inspect and audit all books, documents, transactions and accounts of transient accommodation providers and require transient accommodation providers to produce copies of any documents or records required for the purposes of administering and enforcing this by-law, as required.
(3) For the purpose of investigating compliance with this by-law, a By-law Officer, or Deputy Treasurer, Revenue, may audit or examine any documents or electronic records held by a transient accommodation service provided, short-term rental platform, property manager, or host permit holder that relates or may relate to information that is required under this by-law.
8. (1) The Deputy Treasurer, Revenue may make an assessment of an amount of the MAT required to be paid or remitted under this by-law, together with any interest imposed upon any non-payment of the MAT outstanding, if a provider of transient accommodation fails to pay or remit it any amount of the MAT as required under this by-law, as determined by the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue.
(2) The Deputy Treasurer, Revenue may assess or reassess any provider of transient accommodation for any MAT payable by the provider of transient accommodation under this by-law within three years from the day the MAT was remittable, except where the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue believes that a person has made a misrepresentation in the information supplied under this by-law, or has omitted to disclose information required for the purposes of this by-law, then the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue may assess or reassess, at any time the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue considers reasonable, the MAT payable by such provider of transient accommodation.
(3) Where it appears from an inspection, audit or examination of the books of account, records or documents of any provider of transient accommodation, that this by-law has not been complied with, the person making the inspection, audit or examination shall calculate the amount payable in such manner and form and by such procedure as the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue considers adequate and expedient, and the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue shall assess the amount payable by the accommodator.
(4) The Deputy Treasurer, Revenue shall send by mail or by registered mail or deliver by hand a notice of the assessment made under section 8 to the provider of transient accommodation so assessed at the accommodator's last known address, and the notice may provide that the amount assessed is payable to the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue by the due date set out in the notice of assessment.
9. Without limiting the foregoing, the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue, may establish and use other dispute resolution mechanisms. Providers of transient accommodation may dispute MAT amounts or issues by written notification to the City's tax collection agent. If the tax collection agent is unable to resolve the dispute, the dispute resolution authority rests with the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue.
10. All MAT penalties and interest that are past due shall be deemed by the City Treasurer to be in arrears, and shall be transferred to the tax collectors' roll of the City to be collected in the same manner as municipal property taxes and shall constitute a lien upon the lands.
11. (1) Every person who contravenes any provision of this by-law is guilty of an offence and upon conviction is liable to a fine provided for by the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.33, as amended.
(2) Every person who contravenes any provision of this by-law is guilty of an offence as provided for in subsection 429(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, and all such offences are designated as continuing offences as provided for in subsection 429(2)(a) of the Municipal Act, 2001.
(3) A person who is convicted of an offence under this by-law is liable, to a minimum fine of $500.00 and a maximum fine of $100,000 as provided for in subsection 429(3), paragraph 1 of the Municipal Act, 2001.
(4) A person who is convicted of an offence under this by-law is liable, for each day or part of a day that the offence continues, to a minimum fine of $500.00 and a maximum fine of $10,000.00 and the total of all of the daily fines for the offence is not limited o $100,000, as provided for in subsection 429(3) paragraph 2 of the Municipal Act, 2001.
(5) When a person has been convicted of an offence under this by-law, the Superior Court of Justice or any court of competent jurisdiction thereafter may, in additional to any penalty imposed on the person convicted, issue an order:
(a) prohibiting the continuation of repetition of the offence by the person convicted; and
b) requiring the person convicted to correct the contravention in the manner and within the period that the court considers appropriate.
12. This by-law shall come into force and take effect on June 1, 2021. ENACTED AND PASSED this 23 day of February 2022.