Toronto Short-Term Rental Registration Fee in 2026

Registering a short-term rental in Toronto costs $390, and the 2026 renewal fee is also $390. It is not $100, and it did not double from $50. On top of the fee, you collect a 6% Municipal Accommodation Tax from guests on stays under 28 nights.

The old version of this article gave a $100 fee. The City’s operator page shows $390 for both a first registration and the 2026 renewal, so we corrected it.

What the City charges

The registration fee is $390 and non-refundable, so it doesn’t come back if you find out your home doesn’t qualify. The 2026 renewal is $390 too, and the City says the renewal fee is subject to an annual increase. We found no 2027 amount and won’t guess one.

You register online and pay by credit card. The City issues a number in the format STR-0000-XXXXXX. That number goes on every advertisement, and you use it later to pay the accommodation tax.

Who can host, and for how many nights

Short-term rentals are allowed only in your principal residence, the home where you live and get your mail. You can register one home. A second condo doesn’t qualify.

If you rent part of your home, such as a spare room, there is no limit on nights, but you are capped at three bedrooms. If you rent the whole home while you travel, the cap is 180 nights per calendar year, counted from January 1.

The listed fines are $1,000 for operating without registration, $700 for going over 180 nights, and $1,000 for advertising without your number. We could not confirm whether the $700 is charged once or for each extra night, so keep well under the limit.

The 6% tax, with numbers

The tax is 6% of the price of the stay. Guests pay it and you remit it. You file a report every quarter, even a quarter with no bookings, and even if a booking platform collected the tax. The deadline is 30 days after quarter end, which means April 30, July 30, October 30 and January 30.

Say you rent a room at $120 and host 22 nights in a quarter. Revenue is $2,640, and the tax is 6% of that, or $158.40. Late payments carry interest of 1.25% a month, and a rejected payment adds $40. The City can also refuse to renew a registration for non-compliance.

Compare two hosts. One rents a room 200 nights at $110. The 180-night cap doesn’t apply, so gross rent is $22,000 and tax collected is $1,320. The other rents a whole house at $250 and can host only 180 nights, which gives $45,000 and $2,700. At 200 nights he would break the cap by 20.

The tax isn’t your income. It passes through you, so don’t spend it before the quarterly deadline.

Renewing on time

You can renew from 30 days before your expiry date, and payment must arrive by 11:59 p.m. on the renewal date. A late renewal adds $11.27 for 1 to 30 days, $83.18 for 31 to 60 days, and $160.69 for 61 to 90 days. After 90 days the registration is cancelled and you must apply again.

So a host 45 days late pays $473.18. One who waits 75 days pays $550.69. Past day 90, it is a new $390 application. Tell the City within six days if any of your information changes.

Does the fee pay for itself?

At $100 a night, four nights cover $390. If cleaning and supplies cost $30 a night, your net is $70, and it takes six nights, since five give $350 and six give $420.

Spread over a year, the fee weighs more on light hosting. On 60 nights it is $6.50 a night. On 25 nights it is $15.60. Rental income is taxable, and the income tax calculator shows how extra income moves your tax. The City also says HST registration is needed only above $30,000 of annual rental income, and our GST and HST calculator works out 13% on a price.

To test your own plan, use the Toronto short-term rental calculator. Run it twice, once for a busy year and once for half as many nights.

What we could not confirm

The earlier article told a personal story and claimed the fee doubled. None of it matched City pages, so we dropped it. We also couldn’t confirm how nights are counted when a booking crosses New Year, and we didn’t check platform rules. Keep a log of arrival dates, nights, rates and tax charged. For your own numbers, try the Marginal Tax Rate & Tax Brackets calculator, or browse the tax calculators.

Sources

• City of Toronto, Short-Term Rental Operators and Hosts
• City of Toronto, Short-Term Rental Municipal Accommodation Tax
• City of Toronto, Short-Term Rental Renewal

Common questions

Last reviewed: September 29, 2026. Figures come from the official sources listed above. How we check the numbers and our editorial policy.