A short-term rental in Vaughan needs a licence. That is the first rule and the one most new hosts miss. The City licenses hosts under its Short-Term Rental Licensing By-law, and the by-law has been in effect since January 1, 2020.
This guide walks through what the City's pages say a host has to do. Licence, residence rule, stay limit, fees, tax, and the rules once you are running. Then the part no by-law touches: what happens between guests. Every fact came from the City's short-term rental pages on the publication date. Fees change yearly. Check the current by-law text first.
Who needs a licence
Two groups. Homeowners and tenants who plan to rent out their principal residence for short stays. And the platforms, which the City calls brokerages. Airbnb and Expedia are its own examples. Both groups have to hold a licence.
The City defines the stay, not the platform. A short-term rental means renting your residence, or part of it, for a fee, for not more than 29 consecutive nights. A booking that runs longer falls outside that definition. Read the City's short-term rental FAQ gives the same limit in days.
The principal-residence rule
The home has to be where you live. The City permits short-term rentals only in the owner's or tenant's principal residence, and only with a licence in hand. A second property bought to host does not qualify under the published rule.
Dwelling type is broad. The FAQ lists single detached, semi-detached, townhouses, condominiums and apartments, and secondary suites inside a single detached home. Your condo declaration or your lease can still say no. The City's permission does not override a building's.
How much of the home you can rent
With an owner licence, the City says you can rent the entire home or up to two bedrooms without renovations. Renting more than two bedrooms, but not the whole home, may need renovations or added construction. Every bedroom has to be original or built under a permit.
That question goes to Building Standards, not the licensing desk. The FAQ gives buildingstandards@vaughan.ca and 905-832-8510. Ask before you list a third bedroom.
What the licence costs
The City publishes fees a year ahead. For 2026 the owner licence is $213 initial and $181 renewal. For 2027 it rises to $220 and $187. Brokerage fees start at $356 for up to ten properties and climb with property count.
Those figures come from the City's page on the publication date. Treat them as a snapshot. The licence has to be maintained and renewed for as long as the rental operates, so the renewal line is the one that repeats.
The Municipal Accommodation Tax
A Municipal Accommodation Tax applies to every short-term rental stay. The rate is four per cent of the cost of the accommodation. Hosts, or the brokerage collecting on their behalf, charge it and remit it to the City. The City's MAT page dates its application to short-term rentals to September 1, 2020.
Since October 27, 2025, a new licensee is registered for the tax automatically and gets an email on how to remit. A host operating without a brokerage has to show the tax as a separate line on each bill. The City's MAT page has the registration and submission links.
How to apply
Two routes. The online Licensing Portal, or the PDF owner form. The form can go by email to bylaw.licensing@vaughan.ca with scanned documents, by mail, in person at City Hall, or into the drop boxes at its entrances. Paper submissions need a cheque payable to the City.
Payment is not optional. The FAQ is explicit that an application is not considered until it is paid. Processing time varies with what you submit. The full steps and the current form are on the apply page.
What the application asks for
The apply page names one item worth preparing early: an emergency contact reachable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the rental is operating. You supply it at application time. A co-host or your cleaner can be that person only if they agree to it.
The rest is identification and property detail. The City keeps a separate page on identification requirements for licence applications, linked from the same apply page.
Rules once the licence is issued
The apply page lists what a licensed owner must do. Display the licence where it is visible from outside, or as near the main entrance as possible. Tell the City in writing within seven days of any change to the application details. Keep the licence current.
The unit also has to meet the Ontario Building Code and Fire Code at all times, including maximum occupancy. The FAQ spells out the Fire Code basics: smoke alarms on every level and outside sleeping areas, and carbon monoxide alarms beside sleeping areas where there is a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace, or connected garage.
The neighbourhood by-laws guests trip over
Three by-laws land on the host because guests do not know them. Parking: on-street parking is allowed up to three hours without a permit, and not at all between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. without one. Put that in the house manual in plain words.
Waste: bins go out no earlier than 6 p.m. the evening before collection and come in by 8 p.m. on collection day. Noise: nobody may make unusual noise likely to disturb neighbours. The City routes neighbour complaints to By-law and Compliance through Access Vaughan at 905-832-2281.
Penalties
The City does not publish a fine schedule on its short-term rental pages. Its wording is that non-compliance may lead to a range of penalties, depending on severity and community impact. That is all it states. The by-law text itself is the place to look for amounts.
This guide is not legal advice. The City can amend any of the above. Confirm the current by-law text and the current fee table before you rely on either.
What a host prepares between guests
None of this is in the by-law. All of it decides the review. A turnover is the reset between checkout and check-in, and on a busy weekend the window can be a few hours. The four pieces are the clean, the linens, the restock, and the walkthrough.
The clean covers every surface a guest touches. Bathrooms, kitchen, floors, and the inside of the fridge and microwave. Beds get stripped and remade. Bins get emptied. SpotlessCo scopes Airbnb cleaning in Vaughan around that checkout-to-check-in window.
Linens and restocking
Every bed needs at least two full sets so one can wash while the other is on. Towels the same. Who supplies and launders them is a decision to settle before the first booking, and who handles the linens walks through the options.
Restocking is the short list guests notice when it is missing. Toilet paper, paper towel, hand soap, dish soap, coffee, and a spare bin liner. Keep a locked closet with a month of stock. Refill it on the same visit as the clean.
The walkthrough
The last ten minutes of a turnover are a walk through every room with the guest's eyes. Lights on. Blinds level. Remote where the manual says. Nothing left from the last stay. Damage or a missing item gets photographed and reported the same day.
If you are hiring that out, the questions in how to choose an Airbnb cleaning company cover backup coverage, checklists, and building access. SpotlessCo handles Airbnb turnovers in Vaughan and across the GTA, and the host fees and costs guide covers what the platform takes.
The short version
Licence first. Principal residence only. Stays of 29 nights or fewer. Four per cent tax shown on the bill. Licence displayed at the door. Emergency contact on call. Fire alarms in place. Parking and bin rules in the house manual.
Then the turnover. Clean, linens, restock, walkthrough, every time. Start with the City's short-term rentals page and the by-law it links. Then book the cleaner. In that order.
