The owner’s guide to short stays in Ontario: what your city asks for, the taxes, and what homes earn. It is more than it looks. Most of it can be someone else’s job.
Fees and rates read on official pages on 13 November 2026. Not legal or tax advice.
One
What your city asks for
Ontario has no single rule. Each city or town writes its own, so the paperwork and the tax change with the address.
Which homes qualify, and for how many nights, depends on the home and how you use it. We go through that with you for your address.
Each one links to the official page it was read on, 13 November 2026. More about each place is on its area page.
Two
What counts as a short stay
In Toronto and Hamilton a short-term rental is a stay of fewer than 28 nights in a row. Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake use 28 nights or fewer. The licences and the accommodation tax above are about stays on the short side of that line.
A stay of a month or more is a different kind of let, with its own rules. Some homes suit one, some the other, and some both. Ask us which fits yours.
Three
Registration and licences
The city wants to know about your home before the first guest. What it takes, from the pages we read:
Toronto: a registration. Processing can take more than 30 days.
Hamilton: a Short-Term Rental Operator licence, with insurance, a fire escape plan and working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Niagara Falls: a Vacation Rental Unit licence and a fire inspection.
Niagara-on-the-Lake: a Town licence in one of five kinds, with a fire and by-law inspection. The Town says up to ten weeks.
Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake also want the registration or licence number shown on the listing. Apply before you furnish, not after.
With Cloud 9
The registration or licence is issued to you, for your home, so it stays in your name. We go through what your city asks for with you before anything goes live.
Four
The three taxes
Municipal Accommodation Tax. A city tax on short stays, charged to the guest: 6% in Toronto, 5% in Ajax, 4% in Hamilton, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. Collecting it and sending it in is the host’s job. Hamilton says that holds even when the booking came through Airbnb; in Toronto a booking site that has an agreement with the City can do it for you.
GST/HST. The Canada Revenue Agency requires you to register once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that, registering is optional. Booking sites have their own duty to collect for hosts who are not registered.
Income tax. The income is yours to report, and what you can deduct depends on the home being run within your city’s rules. That is one more reason to get the paperwork right from the start.
This is a summary, not tax advice. An accountant who knows rental income is worth the hour.
With Cloud 9
Your monthly statement shows what came in, what went out and what is left, so the numbers are ready when you or your accountant need them.
Five
Condos and rented homes
The city is not the only one with a say. Toronto notes that condominium corporations can have their own bylaws on short-term rentals. Have your building’s declaration and rules to hand, or ask the property manager for them.
If you rent the home, your lease and your landlord are part of the conversation. Tell us and we will go through it with you.
Six
Insurance
Tell your insurer you plan to take paying guests, and get the answer in writing before the first one arrives. Do not assume your home policy covers it.
Some cities will ask for proof. Hamilton asks for confirmation of adequate insurance with the licence application, and Niagara Falls asks for commercial insurance for a vacation rental unit.
Seven
What a home could earn
Here are published figures for a year of bookings, by area and number of bedrooms. They are one data company’s estimates for every Airbnb listing in each market. The typical home is the one in the middle; the average is pulled up by the best.
Two-bedroom homes in Toronto, a year of bookings
CA$29,200 to CA$43,600
About CA$2,430 to CA$3,630 a month, before cleaning, booking-site fees, tax and a manager’s fee.
Typical home
CA$29,200
Average
CA$43,600
Nights booked
48%
Average night
CA$337
Busiest month across Toronto: August. Quietest: February.
EstimatePublished market figures for 10,945 Airbnb listings in Toronto, November 2025 to October 2026, from AirROI. Other sources publish different figures. These are not Cloud 9’s results and not a promise of what your home will earn.
What comes off the top before it reaches you: cleaning, the booking sites’ fees, the accommodation tax, supplies, a manager’s fee if you have one, and your own costs of owning the home.
Eight
The work itself
Licences and taxes are the paperwork. The rest is a job that never closes.
Doing it yourself
Hosting is a second job
The listing is the easy part. A week of running it looks more like this.
11:40 pm
A guest cannot find the key. Your phone is the front desk.
6:15 am
Checkout at eleven, the next guests at three, and the cleaner has cancelled.
Tuesday
The long weekend is priced like any other night. Somebody books it in an hour.
Thursday
Airbnb and Booking.com both took the same Saturday.
Saturday
Out of toilet paper, coffee and clean towels, in that order.
Month end
Which booking paid what, after whose fees, and what is actually left?
With Cloud 9
All of that is ours
You own the home. We do the work that comes with every guest, and show you all of it.
A price for every nightRates follow the season, the day of the week and how full the calendar is. You set the floor and the ceiling.
Three sites, one calendarYour home on Airbnb, Booking.com and VRBO, with one calendar behind all three.
Guests, at any hourWe answer guests before, during and after their stay, so your phone stays quiet.
A clean after every checkoutA cleaner is booked for each one and sends photos when the home is ready.
RestockingWhatever is running low gets reordered before a guest notices.
The numbersA daily update and a profit and loss statement every month, on your phone.
Three things stay in your name
The city's registration or licence
It is issued to you, for your home. We go through what your city asks for with you.
Insurance
Your policy has to cover paying guests. Ask your insurer before the first one arrives.
Your tax return
The income is yours. Your monthly statement gives you or your accountant the numbers.
Short answers
Questions owners ask
Is Airbnb legal in Ontario?
There is no single Ontario rule. Each city or town sets its own, and they differ. Most ask for a registration or a licence and charge an accommodation tax. Which homes qualify depends on the home and how you use it, and we go through that with you.
Do I have to charge tax?
Most of these cities have a Municipal Accommodation Tax on short stays, from 4% to 6%. Sales tax is separate: the Canada Revenue Agency requires you to register for GST/HST once your taxable revenue passes $30,000 over four calendar quarters.
How long does a licence take?
It varies. Toronto says processing can take more than 30 days, and Niagara-on-the-Lake says up to ten weeks. Apply early.
How much can I make?
It depends on the area, the size of the home and how it is run. The guide shows published market figures by area and bedrooms, with their source, and we give you a figure for your own home when you ask.
What does a manager do?
With Cloud 9: nightly pricing, the listings on Airbnb, Booking.com and VRBO, answering guests, a cleaner after every checkout, restocking, and a monthly statement. The licence, the insurance and the tax return stay in your name.
What does Cloud 9 charge?
It depends on the home, so we quote for yours.
What could yours earn?
Five quick taps about your home, then we send you a figure for it.