Alignment With Short-Term Rental Accommodation Legislation

Stephen Bentley, the City's Community Planning Manager, provided the Committee of the Whole with a report on the impact of short-term rental accommodation legislation. The new provincial Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act seeks to balance the need to create more long-term homes for residents with the need to accommodate visitors, while giving local governments stronger tools to enforce short-term rental bylaws and establishing a provincial role in regulation.

As of May 1, 2025, all short-term rental hosts and platforms operating in BC must be registered with the provincial short-term rental registry to ensure that all hosts and platforms follow the provincial rules. Short-term rental hosts must display a valid business licence number on their listing in areas where the local government requires a business licence. If a listing does not comply with local government business licence requirements, the short-term rental platform must remove the listing at the local government's request.

Currently in Kamloops, a business licence is not required for boarders and lodgers staying more than 30 days (e.g. when a host wishes to rent out a room to a student for a semester or to a pipeline worker). Renting residential suites does not require a business licence unless the registered owner does not occupy any units on the lot. Suites are considered dwelling units and must be rented monthly, not as nightly or weekly rentals. Approximately 240 current AirBnB listings in Kamloops are not permitted under municipal regulations, meaning they are either located within a suite or living space with its own kitchen.

The report outlined three options to align the City’s zoning and business licence bylaws with provincial short-term rental accommodation. The Committee of the Whole recommend that Council authorize staff to draft for Council’s consideration amendments to the Zoning and Business Licence and Regulations Bylaws to permit short-term rentals less than 30 days within the principal dwelling of the property owner, or in a residential suite on the same property as the owner’s principal residence, and to require a business licence for all rentals listed on a short-term rental platform for less than 90 days.

• View the full report.
• View the presentation within the COTW meeting slide deck.
• Contact for further information:
  Stephen Bentley | sbentley@kamloops.ca

Options for Public Inquiry

Maria Mazzotta, the City's Corporate Officer, provided the Committee of the Whole with options for Public Inquiries, based on Council’s January 14, 2025, direction. The Committee of the Whole recommended that Administration present Council with draft Council Procedure Bylaw amendments with new meeting parameters that would include Public Input rather than Public Inquiries.

A Public Input agenda item would allow up to 5 speakers per meeting to speak for up to 2 minutes each on a specified agenda item. Speakers would need to sign up in advance and identify the agenda item they wish to speak to. The topic of discussion could not relate to matter for which a public hearing is either prohibited or forthcoming, or for one with a public submissions’ opportunity. The Committee of the Whole suggested that eligible agenda topics be clearly identified on the meeting agenda.

• View the presentation within the COTW meeting slide deck.
• Contact for further information:
  Maria Mazzotta | mmazzotta@kamloops.ca

Budget and Supplemental Items

Dustin Rutsatz, the City's Planning and Procurement Manager, provided the Committee of the Whole with an update on the 2025 budget process and the 2025‑2029 Five-Year Financial Plan. The latest information on cost projections and Council’s decision puts the projected tax increase at 8.42%. Changes since the last report include additional funding to service the debt for a new RCMP building, a $327,000 reduction in anticipated FortisBC revenue, and the addition of just over $405,000 in BC Transit reserves.

The next step in the budget process is Council’s consideration of supplemental budget item requests. These items were presented to the Committee of the Whole on February 11, 2025, and the public had a chance to provide input on each item through forums, polls, a survey, and an in-person meeting.

The recommendations from the Committee of the Whole on each supplemental budget item were as follows:

• Committee of the Whole also recommended moving forward with hiring firefighters. While this supplementary budget item has no tax impact in 2025, the bulk of the costs will be borne through taxation in 2026-27.

• Committee of the Whole further recommended that Staff report back to Council after the first year of operationalizing the misting stations.

• Committee of the Whole is recommending a scaled-down version of what was presented during public engagement. Rather than adding $8,355,000 to the capital project to include major improvements (option 3), the committee is recommending the addition of the multi-use pathway only (option 2), requiring an additional $500,000.

• Committee of the Whole is recommending a scaled down version of what was presented during public engagement. Rather than adding $5,858,000 to the capital project for major improvements (option 2), the committee is recommending only adding the Community Network Fiber Extension to the existing project along with option 1, requiring $448,000.

Based on the most recent data and supplemental recommendations, the 2025 Financial Plan Bylaw would include a tax requirement increase of 9.03%, or $225.50 on the average property. The final step in the budget process is for Council to approve the Financial Plan Bylaw, which, by legislation, must occur before May 15 each year. The Financial Plan Bylaw will be finalized and provided to Council for first, second, and third readings on April 8, 2025, and for adoption on April 15, 2025.

• View the full report.
• View the presentation within the COTW meeting slide deck.
• Contact for further information:
  Dustin Rutsatz | drutsatz@kamloops.ca