Tourist accommodation | Airbnb uses citizens to put pressure on the mayor of Montreal

Monday evening, at city hall, half a dozen citizens pressed Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada to clarify her intentions regarding the regulations adopted by her predecessor, Valérie Plante.

Under this regulation, short-term rentals on Airbnb-type platforms are now prohibited in the metropolis before June 10 and after September 10.

Faced with the barrage of questions, the mayor reiterated her position stated during the last electoral campaign.

Soraya Martinez Ferrada says she still intends to ban Airbnb-style rentals for commercial purposes, but wants to allow homeowners to rent out their primary residence for a maximum of 90 days, consecutive or not, at any time of the year.

But no announcement to this effect is planned imminently, his office said on Monday.

Which does not prevent Airbnb from encouraging owner users of its platform to put pressure on its administration.

An intense campaign

The company, which is registered in the Register of Lobbyists, has been leading an intense campaign against the City for several weeks. She recently published a study according to which the regulations of the former Plante administration risk causing revenue losses of 19 million during the next F1 Grand Prix, in May, and the World Cycling Championships, in September.

In a letter sent to citizens last week, the short-term rental giant now details how to ask questions during the municipal council meeting which is held once a month.

“If you can, we encourage you to go and make your opinion heard. As Montreal prepares to welcome visitors for major events, the mayor and city council need to hear […] those who welcome them,” argues the California-based firm.

“By sharing your point of view, you are helping to demonstrate that the seasonal ban should be lifted to ensure Montreal has the accommodation it needs,” the company continues.

For several owners who came to ask questions, renting part of their accommodation simply allows them to make ends meet.

“Yes, there have been horrible things, people who have died in fires, but it also allows people like me to stay at home,” argued Marie-Lucie Roy, who rents an old converted hayloft above her garage.

“This place has no civic address and will never be on the rental market,” she explains, adding that this additional income allows her to cover the steep increase in her municipal tax bill.

It is not unprecedented for citizens to band together to try to set the tone for a question period at city hall.

However, these movements are not usually the initiative of a company, which is also a giant having generated 2.6 billion US dollars in profits last year, according to Forbeswhich worries the interim head of Projet Montréal, Ericka Alneus.

“We put this type of pressure on elected officials when we have a responsibility for all the citizens of Montreal,” she said.

No Airbnb representative has yet met Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada since the start of her mandate, her office said Monday evening. More than 7,000 homes would be offered for short-term rental in the metropolis and could be returned to the rental market, argues Ericka Alneus.

Also, the City’s regulations allow the authorization dates to be changed to allow them during important events, for example for the F1 weekend, recalled Project Montreal’s housing spokesperson, Élise Tanguay, inviting the new mayor not to back down.