What a short-term rental registration tells you
Every legal Airbnb in Toronto needs a City registration number tied to the operator's principal residence. Here's what the rules are — and what a registration on a unit signals if you're buying, renting, or living in the building.
It's peak short-term-rental season — summer is when Toronto units get listed on Airbnb and similar sites. But a legal short-term rental here isn't a free-for-all: every operator has to register with the City and post a registration number on the listing. That number is public, and it tells you more than you'd think.
The rules, in plain language
Toronto only allows short-term rentals (stays under 28 days) in an operator's principal residence — the home they actually live in. The core rules:
- One principal residence only. You can't legally run a short-term rental out of an investment condo or a second property. No live-in owner or tenant, no legal listing.
- Registration is required. Operators register with the City for $375 and renew every year (about $390 in 2026). The number must appear on the listing.
- 180-night cap on whole-home rentals. Renting the entire unit is capped at 180 nights per calendar year. Renting private rooms while you live there has no annual cap.
- A municipal accommodation tax applies — currently 8.5% on the stay.
- Condo rules can override all of this. If the building's declaration or bylaws ban short-term rentals, registration with the City doesn't make it allowed.
A registration number proves the operator registered — not that the listing follows the night cap, the tax rules, or the condo's own bylaws. Treat it as one signal, not a clean bill of health.
Why it matters to you
- Buying a condo? A unit with an active registration has been used as a short-term rental. Worth asking: does the building actually permit it, and is the income the seller quotes legal under the 180-night cap?
- Renting? Your lease and the building's rules usually prohibit you from re-listing the unit. And a building full of rotating weekend guests is a different place to live than one with long-term neighbours.
- Already an owner? If short-term rentals are eroding security or wear-and-tear in your building, the registration record is how you check which units are operating.
What it looks like in the data
Take a real example: the condo at 8 The Esplanade in the St. Lawrence area has an active short-term-rental registration on unit 3805 (registration STR-2604-FPQBPQ). That's the City confirming a registered operator at that specific unit — searchable, unit by unit.
A registration tied to one unit in a tower tells you the building isn't a blanket no — but you'd still confirm the declaration and the night count before counting on the income.
Check any address
Search a building or unit on the short-term rental registry to see which units carry an active City registration. Pair it with the property snapshot for permits, orders & the rest of the record — and turn on monitoring to get an email if a new registration appears at an address you care about.
Short-term rental records are sourced from the City of Toronto and delivered by PropertyMonitorTO.