Safety and Insurance Act. Travel agencies have different responsibilities and liabilities and are subject to different legislation, including the Ontario Travel Industry Act. 

Hotels, motels. bed & breakfasts, short-term rental operators, travel agencies and short-term rental platforms are not licensed by the City of Toronto. 

Zoning by-laws 

The use of any given property is regulated by the City's zoning by-laws. Toronto's zoning by-laws were not written to regulate the length of time a dwelling unit is rented. However, some short-term rentals available through sites like Airbnb may fall into existing definitions of uses. The zoning requirements surrounding short-term rentals are complex and must be considered property by property, in part because there are a number of zoning by-laws still in effect from the six former municipalities in addition to the city-wide zoning by-law. This report discusses how the city-wide zoning by-law 569-2013 addresses short-term rentals, which governs some, but not all parts of Toronto. Further study may conclude that these definitions may need to be refined or that a new term may need to be established to better distinguish short-term rentals from other defined land uses. 

Under By-law 569-2013, a room or entire unit rented for a short period may fall into the definition of "tourist home' or "hotel', and would be permitted only in certain areas. Both definitions use the term 'travelling public', which is considered to be a generally understood term In the tourist business and is consistently used in several pieces of Ontario legislation. 

The By-law defines a tourist home as a dwelling that "(A) is the principal residence of the tourist home operator: (B) caters to the needs of the travelling public by the furnishing of sleeping accommodation; and (C) may include the provision of meals. This definition covers what is commonly called a bed and breakfast. A tourist home must be in a detached house, a semi-detached house or a townhouse where vehicle access does not rely on a mutual driveway. Where permitted in residential areas, a tourist home is limited to having no more than two guest rooms. A tourist home is generally permitted in most residential areas in the former City of Toronto and several mixed-use commercial-residential zones across the City. Some short-term rentals may fall Into this category, including rentals where the owner or tenant of a unit rents a room and rentals where the unit is the owner's primary residence and the owner rents the unit while away from home. 

If the operator of a short-term rental does not live in the unit, this may be considered a hotel. According to the By-law, a hotel is defined as "premises used to cater to the needs of the travelling public by providing sleeping accommodation in rooms or suites, and it may include an eating establishment that is ancillary to the hotel". 

Hotels are permitted in one of the employment-industnal zones and in mixed-use commercial-residential zones. The employment-industrial area where hotels are permitted emphasizes offices and regular residential uses are not permitted; hotels in these areas are typically used by business visitors and airport users. In commercial-residential areas, the By-law has a regulation which says no hotel room or suite may be