Key Takeaways

  • A Canadian property owner allegedly operated seven unlicensed short-term rental units for over 1,000 guest nights despite court-backed denials.
  • British Columbia’s provincial data portal is enabling cities to track and enforce licensing violations using real-time occupancy data.
  • Council will decide Monday whether to approve the operator’s latest license application after years of unsuccessful attempts.

A Canadian short-term rental owner is fighting to legalize his property after logging over 1,000 documented guest stays over the past year.

Dennis Hildebrand returns to his city council in Kelowna, which is located about 240 miles east of Vancouver, next week to shore up his seven-room STR, which has been operating without a business license for months, according to “Castanet.

“In 2022, it was identified that the property had been divided into seven separate living units, each with its own kitchen, without the required building permits,” staff wrote in a report for council.

Officials rejected his license application earlier this month due to insufficient evidence that the dwelling was his principal residence, an incomplete application, and lack of response to follow-up requests, according to the outlet.

The operator has tried unsuccessfully multiple times to secure a license for what was previously a rooming house since an original license lapsed four years ago due to non-payment.

Building code violations compound the issue

City staff allegedly found in 2022 that the property had been divided into seven separate living units, each with its own kitchen, without required building permits.

Council upheld staff’s license denial in July 2024, a decision later affirmed by the British Columbia Supreme Court earlier this year.

Staff advised Hildebrand that short-term rentals are not a permitted principal use on the property and it’s not eligible for a short-term-rental subzone.

However, officials say the property owner continues to operate the business in contravention of city bylaws.

Compliance crackdowns like this one are accelerating in British Columbia markets where provincial data portals now track occupancy.

Related: California city candidates split on STR enforcement

Operators using major platforms face mounting scrutiny as municipalities gain access to real-time booking data from provincial reporting systems.

Cities can now cross-reference market intelligence with license registries to identify unlicensed operators faster than manual complaint-driven enforcement.

Council will determine the fate of the application Monday.