Winnipeg's bylaws lack teeth to curb short-term rentals, say downtown condo owners

Lauren Scott · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A twelvemonth aft the City of Winnipeg introduced bylaws to modulate short-term lodging rentals, residents successful a downtown condo gathering accidental the rules person done small to halt their location from becoming a "ghost hotel."

"We thought it was going to beryllium a assemblage of radical that would emotion to unrecorded downtown," said Anna Juangco-Maniquiz, who has lived successful the Glasshouse Skylofts, a Hargrave Street condo building, since it opened successful 2016. 

Now she says she worries erstwhile the play rolls around. 

"Do we person to telephone the cops again?" said Juangco-Maniquiz, who witnessed what constabulary accidental was a human-trafficking incidental successful the gathering past year. 

"It's conscionable the anxiousness of not truly being capable to foretell what's going to hap connected immoderate fixed play due to the fact that we don't cognize who's successful the building." 

More than 1 successful 4 units astatine the Glasshouse had a short-term rental licence approved since caller metropolis bylaws came into effect last twelvemonth — that's 56 licence approvals successful the 194-unit building, a CBC News investigation of metropolis information has found. 

As of April 2024, immoderate owners who rent retired a location for a continuous play of little than 30 days are required to get a concern licence from the metropolis and renew it annually. In Winnipeg, websites similar Airbnb oregon Vrbo big galore of these listings.

According to the bylaw, immoderate imperishable Winnipeg nonmigratory tin temporarily rent retired their superior residence — and lone their superior residence — if it was bought aft Feb. 23, 2023. 

However, immoderate owners tin rent retired their superior residence and 3 non-primary residences if the properties were owned connected oregon earlier that date.

Juangco-Maniquiz was "cautiously optimistic" astir the bylaws, but says the city's determination to gramps successful immoderate radical who ain aggregate units has done small to assistance her building's situation. 

"I consciousness similar it's concern arsenic usual" for short-term rental operators, she told CBC News.

"I deliberation that grandfathering regularisation truly has not been a payment to us.… I don't cognize if the bylaw has capable teeth for [the city] to spell aft immoderate of the radical that are not adhering to the rules." 

Waverley West Coun. Janice Lukes, whose south-end ward has seen 85 short-term licences issued since past April, says "licensing has been a bully thing" overall, but she disagrees with allowing owners to rent retired aggregate homes they don't unrecorded in. 

"We are successful a lodging crisis, and I person ever felt that we should beryllium focusing connected putting radical successful houses long-term, not utilizing houses for short-term," she said.

CBC reached retired to Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy, whose downtown ward has seen 108 licence approvals since past April — the astir of immoderate metropolis ward, with much than fractional of those approvals successful Glasshouse alone. Gilroy did not reply before publication.

Increased information costs

Condo proprietor Mike Diehl, who has lived astatine Glasshouse since 2018, says the gathering is becoming a "ghost hotel," driving up costs for owners.

According to fiscal documents helium shared with CBC News, the building's information and concierge fees person risen much than 130 per cent since 2020.

The outgo peaked successful 2023 astatine $206,576, aft the gathering accrued its information sum from 8 to 20 hours per day, owed to partying, "criminal activity" and "police raids" successful the building, Diehl says. 

"It's not conscionable the short-term rentals, those owners, that are paying those costs. It's everybody, we each stock it," Diehl said.

Thorben Wieditz, enforcement manager of Fairbnb Canada Network, which advocates for accrued regularisation of short-term housing, says his radical has seen these rentals thrust up shared costs astatine different condos crossed the country. 

"People that unrecorded permanently successful these buildings, and person invested each of their savings to person a imperishable residence successful these buildings, are each of a abrupt faced with a concern wherever they unrecorded successful a hotel," helium said.

"They person to fundamentally transportation the load of maintaining a gathering that is being utilized arsenic a edifice and arsenic a commercialized building."

The city's bylaw requires short-term rental operators with properties successful condo buildings to get a missive of support from the condo's committee of directors. 

But Glasshouse condo proprietor and committee subordinate Sinan Leylek says the board's lawyer advised that they "cannot diminution immoderate application," calling the process "extremely frustrating." 

Board subordinate Krystin Coyle, who manages aggregate longer-term Airbnb listings successful the building, told CBC the committee gave a missive of support to each proprietor who sought a short-term rental licence.

However, she says the condo corp is consulting experts astir its quality to contradict definite owners. 

"We're trying everything, but it's conscionable there's truthful overmuch stacked up against us," said Leylek, adding the committee has received aggregate letters from short-term rental owners' lawyers.

"It was large we yet person regulation, but we can't modulate it," helium said. "It's o.k. everyone and past fto the metropolis woody with issues."

Doug Forbes, a Winnipeg-based lawyer who specializes successful condominium and existent property law, says the condo building's ain bylaws and declaration are apt limiting the board's quality to contradict short-term rentals.  

The documents — signed by Forbes successful 2016 erstwhile helium was the ineligible typical for Glasshouse developer Urban Capital — bash not specifically notation short-term rentals oregon word limits for owners renting retired their units. That could marque it hard for the committee to bounds short-term rentals successful the building, Forbes told CBC. 

Coun. Lukes says she's acrophobic astir the attraction of short-term units successful condo buildings similar Glasshouse, but said "there's small accidental that the metropolis tin alteration what the condominium committee has approved."

However, Weidtz of Fairbnb says the metropolis could measurement successful by changing its bylaw to halt owners from renting retired units they don't unrecorded in, due to the fact that "city bylaws trump condo committee rules." 

Despite years of vexation implicit short-term rentals, Leylek says he's hopeful the condo's committee tin enactment with the city.

"Hopefully [city officials] would beryllium capable to person a gathering with america and spot however they tin assistance america with the existent bylaws and if not, possibly marque adjustments to them."

He says he'd similar to spot these businesses capped astatine 10 per cent of the building's units, compared to the existent 29 per cent. 

"Obviously the contented being addressed is helpful, but it's not wherever we privation it to be. So I cognize there's inactive immoderate enactment for us."