Airbnb and short-term rental rules in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia
Written by Casa Scotia, a Nova Scotia short-term rental manager. Not affiliated with any municipality or the Province. How we keep our interest out of it →
At a glance
It depends on the plan area and the zone. Outside four older plan areas, accommodation is permitted in seven zones; in residential and Rural General zones, only in the operator's principal residence. The older by-laws don't name short-term rentals.
Can I?
The home you live in (as Antigonish County’s by-law defines it)In some zones
The Municipality of the County of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, has five land-use by-laws, and which one governs a rental depends on where the lot sits. Four older by-laws cover secondary plan areas, which the County's planning strategy says hold the bulk of its land; Plan Antigonish covers the rest, mainly in the west.
The County takes in communities such as St. Andrews, Heatherton, Havre Boucher, Pomquet, Arisaig and Lochaber, but not the Town of Antigonish, which it surrounds: check the Town's requirements.
Which of the five land-use by-laws covers a lot shows on the Eastern District Planning Commission's zoning maps, and its office can confirm it.
Is a short-term rental allowed here?
Plan Antigonish area: all lands outside the four secondary plan areas (LUB s.1.4.1)
The home you live in (as Antigonish County’s by-law defines it)In some zonesOutside the four secondary plan areas: as a home-based business accessory to the dwelling that is the operator's principal residence, 1 or 2 rental units (Level I) or up to 5 (Level II), within the business's floor-area cap. Level I is allowed in ten zones and Level II in nine; the Residential Centre zone allows Level I only. The seven zones that list accommodations also permit it without that test.
A home you don’t live inIn some zonesOutside the four secondary plan areas: as accommodations, a main use, in the Main Street, General Centre, Hamlet Core, Rural Commercial, Lakeshore, Highway Commercial and Commercial Recreation zones. Not in the residential, Rural General or Agricultural Potential zones.
“Home-based Business means a business activity that is accessory to a dwelling and involves the provision or sale of goods and/or services to the public and where the dwelling is the principal residence of the business operator.”
Land Use By-law (Plan Antigonish), 2024 (Eastern District Planning Commission, for the Municipality of the County of Antigonish) · checked 28 Sep 2026 · Confirmed in source
West River Antigonish Harbour Secondary Plan Area
The home you live in (as Antigonish County’s by-law defines it)Not named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. Bed and breakfasts, up to 5 guest rooms, are permitted in the Rural General, Rural Residential, Residential, Multiple Unit Residential and Tourist Commercial zones.
A home you don’t live inNot named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. Tourist cabins or cottages, up to 5, are permitted in the Tourist Commercial zone, and hotels, motels or tourist inns in the General and Large-Scale Commercial zones. A whole home rented to travellers isn't addressed.
Closest defined use: Tourist and guest home (a single family dwelling with up to six sleeping rooms rented to the public for transient stays) or tourist cottage or cabin; for rooms, bed and breakfast
The home you live in (as Antigonish County’s by-law defines it)Not named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. Bed and breakfasts, up to 5 guest rooms, are permitted in the Rural Development, Hamlet Residential and Hamlet Multiple Unit Residential zones.
A home you don’t live inNot named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. Tourist and guest homes and tourist cabins or cottages are permitted in the Tourist Commercial zone (6 or more cabins or cottages only by development agreement), and hotels, motels or tourist inns in the Hamlet Highway Commercial zone.
Closest defined use: Tourist and guest home (a single family dwelling with up to six sleeping rooms rented to the public for transient stays) or tourist cottage or cabin; for rooms, bed and breakfast
Central Antigonish Land Use By-law (Eastern District Planning Commission, for the Municipality of the County of Antigonish) · checked 28 Sep 2026 · Confirmed in source
Eastern Antigonish Secondary Plan Area
The home you live in (as Antigonish County’s by-law defines it)Not named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. A bed and breakfast, where the resident supplies up to 5 rooms, is permitted in the Rural, Rural Settlement, Residential Multi-unit, Commercial and Island zones.
A home you don’t live inNot named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. Guest homes, up to 5 guest rooms let to the public on a temporary basis, are permitted in the Rural, Rural Settlement, Residential Multi-unit, Commercial and Island zones, and tourist cabins in the Island zone.
Closest defined use: Guest home (a dwelling with up to five guest rooms let to the public on a temporary basis) or tourist cabin; for rooms in the resident's own home, bed and breakfast establishment
The home you live in (as Antigonish County’s by-law defines it)Not named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. Bed and breakfasts, up to 4 bedrooms in a private home, are permitted in the Rural Development and Tourism Commercial zones.
A home you don’t live inNot named in the by-lawShort-term rentals aren't named. A tourist or guest home, which the by-law says can be rented as a whole unit, is permitted in the Rural Development zone, and chalet style cabins in the Rural Development and Tourism Commercial zones (up to six units in the latter).
Closest defined use: Tourist or guest home (a single family dwelling with up to four bedrooms, which the by-law says can also be rented as a whole unit) or chalet style cabin
Outside the four secondary plan areas, Plan Antigonish defines accommodation to include "entire home, individual room, cottage, cabin, geodesic dome, or yurt rentals". Where a zone lists accommodation, no residence test applies. Other zones allow it, if at all, only as a home-based business in the operator's principal residence.
The four older by-laws don't name short-term rentals, though Keppoch-Beaver Mountain's says a tourist or guest home "can also be rented as a whole unit". In all four, how a whole-home rental is classed is the Development Officer's decision: ask the Eastern District Planning Commission for it in writing. What we haven't confirmed yet →
Municipal step
Municipal step · Permit
Development Permit
Issued by
Development Officer, through the Eastern District Planning Commission
The County's by-law list has no short-term rental licence. Its step is a Development Permit, which Plan Antigonish requires before any development, including a change in how land or a building is used; the older by-laws also require permits. Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission which document it issues for provincial registration. What we haven't confirmed yet →
Steps and costs
Check the zone of the lot and confirm the use with Eastern District Planning Commission (planning and development permits for the County), 902-625-5361, contact page.
Development Permit, from Development Officer, through the Eastern District Planning Commission. Details
Then register each unit with the Province and show the number on every listing. The provincial checklist →
What it costs an owner
Cost
The home you live in
Commercial short-term rental (a home you don’t live in)
Development Permit
$40 development permit fee (one time)
$40 development permit fee (one time)
Provincial registration
$50 a year
$500 per unit a year
First year, municipal and provincial
$90
$540
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see both columns.
A personal vacation home (a home you don’t live in, kept mainly for your own use; 150 rental days per registration year; an applicant may register only one personal vacation home) registers as a traditional tourist accommodation instead: $50, or $150 with five or more bedrooms a year (Regulations s.2(1), s.14).
The levy and HST are charged to guests, not owners; they are in Marketing levy.
Marketing levy
None found
We found no marketing levy in Antigonish County’s by-laws or council notices (checked 28 Sep 2026).
This covers the County's own by-laws. The Town of Antigonish, which the County surrounds, runs a marketing levy of its own on accommodation booked inside the town, so whether a levy applies turns on which of the two municipalities a property sits in. Nearby and often confused →
Provincial registration
Register each unit with the Province before advertising it. The first application includes Antigonish County’s land-use document; a renewal doesn’t need it again unless the Province asks.
Fee here: $50 a year for the home you live in; $500 per unit a year for a commercial short-term rental (a home you don’t live in); a personal vacation home pays the traditional rate, $50 or $150.
Show the registration number on every listing, and renew by April 1 each year.
The Municipality of the County of Antigonish is in tier 2 of the Province's Schedule A. A commercial short-term rental (a home you don't live in) pays the tier 2 fee per unit each year. A personal vacation home, kept mainly for its owner's use, pays the lower traditional rate, and a primary residence the primary-residence fee.
Source · checked 28 Sep 2026 · Confirmed in source
What we haven't confirmed yet
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission how a whole home rented to travellers is classed in the four secondary plan areas (West River Antigonish Harbour, Central Antigonish, Eastern Antigonish and Keppoch-Beaver Mountain), and whether starting that rental needs a development permit. Their land-use by-laws don't name short-term rentals, so the Development Officer decides which defined use fits. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission whether renting out the whole of the operator's own home while they are away counts as a home-based business under Plan Antigonish. The by-law caps the share of the dwelling a home-based business may use. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission which document it issues for provincial registration. Its planning fee schedule lists both a development permit and a zoning confirmation, and the Province's registration guide says the municipality confirms which document it requires. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)