Airbnb and short-term rental rules in Colchester 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 zone, and the zone is only the first test. A whole-home rental is Accommodations, which no residential zone permits. Renting part of the home you live in is a Guest Home, which most residential and rural zones permit.
Can I?
The home you live in (as Colchester County’s by-law defines it)In some zones
Ask Development Officer's office, Community Development, Municipality of the County of Colchester, 902-897-3170, contact page which document it issues for provincial registration.
The Municipality of the County of Colchester, Nova Scotia, splits paid stays into two uses in one county-wide Land Use By-law: Accommodations, which names entire-home rental, and a Guest Home, hosted by the resident owner or occupant in part of the dwelling. The zone decides which of the two is open. Is a short-term rental allowed here? →
The by-law applies to all lands in the Municipality, in places such as Bible Hill, Truro Heights, Debert and Tatamagouche. The County also charges a marketing levy through one regional program with the towns and First Nation inside it. Marketing levy →
The Towns of Truro and Stewiacke and Millbrook First Nation lie inside Colchester County, but the County's planning strategy says they are governed independently and outside its jurisdiction, so its Land Use By-law doesn't apply there. The property tax bill names the municipality a property is in.
Is a short-term rental allowed here?
Across the unit
The home you live in (as Colchester County’s by-law defines it)In some zonesAs a Guest Home, hosting in part of the dwelling you live in: in the Double Dwelling Unit (R-2), Double Unit Conversion (R-2C), Residential Medium Density (R-3), Residential High Density (R-4), Local Commercial (C-4), Rural General (RG), Rural Residential (RR), Agricultural Potential (AP) and Shoreline (SL) zones; not in the Single Dwelling Unit (R-1) zone
A home you don’t live inIn some zonesAs Accommodations: in the General Commercial (C-1), Highway Commercial (C-2), Main Street (MS) and Commercial Recreation (P-2) zones; in the Rural General (RG), Agricultural Potential (AP) and Shoreline (SL) zones up to four units, and more by site plan approval; and in the Mi'kmaw Land (ML) zone, which permits all main uses. Not in the residential zones (R-1, R-2, R-2C, R-3, R-4, RR)
“ACCOMMODATIONS means the provision of a building, buildings, or part thereof to the travelling public, for payment or compensation, for a period of 28 days or less, and may include, but is not limited to, tourist facilities such as hotels, motels, and hostels; entire home rental; individual room rental; cottage rentals; cabin rentals; geodesic dome rentals; or yurt rentals. [s.35, def. 6] GUEST HOME means part of a dwelling where the resident owner or resident occupant provides accommodation, with or without meals, to the travelling public for financial remuneration and does not include facilities open to the general public such as meeting rooms, restaurants, or entertainment facilities. [s.35, def. 79] In this Bylaw, any use not listed as a permitted use in a zone is prohibited in that zone unless otherwise indicated. [s.2.7.1]”
On the by-law's definitions, renting out a whole house, cottage or cabin to travellers is Accommodations, and hosting them in part of a home the owner or occupant lives in is a Guest Home. A use a zone doesn't list is prohibited there, and no zone lists Accommodations among its development-agreement uses.
In the rural zones that allow Accommodations, a larger operation needs site plan approval, which reviews landscaping, screening and site access. To find a lot's zone, use the zoning map on the County's zoning page or the office in Who to contact.
Municipal step
Ask Development Officer's office, Community Development, Municipality of the County of Colchester, 902-897-3170, contact page which document it issues for provincial registration.
The County's zoning page describes two documents: a Property Status Report, its written zoning confirmation, and a Development Permit, which the by-law requires before any development, including a change of use. Tell the office whether you rent a whole home or part of the home you live in.
Steps and costs
Check the zone of the lot and confirm the use with Development Officer's office, Community Development, Municipality of the County of Colchester, 902-897-3170, contact page.
Ask Development Officer's office, Community Development, Municipality of the County of Colchester, 902-897-3170, contact page which document it issues for provincial registration.Details
Register for the marketing levy and remit it on the bookings you collect it on. 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)
Provincial registration
$50 a year
$500 per unit a year
First year, municipal and provincial
$50
$500
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
In force
The Municipality of the County of Colchester charges a 3% marketing levy on the purchase price of the accommodation, in force since 1 Apr 2024 under Marketing Levy By-law (Chapter 19).
Who collects it
On Airbnb, you add it to the guest’s bill and remit it (as of 28 Sep 2026)
On Vrbo, you add it to the guest’s bill and remit it (as of 28 Sep 2026)
On Booking.com, you add it to the guest’s bill and remit it (as of 28 Sep 2026)
On direct bookings, you add it to the guest’s bill and remit it (as of 28 Sep 2026)
Remitting it
Ask the Tourism Marketing Levy Coordinator how often levy reports and payments are due.
Exemptions, in the by-law’s words
“a person who pays for accommodation for which the daily purchase price is no more than twenty dollars ($20.00);”
“a student who is accommodated in a building owned or operated by a post-secondary educational institution while the student is registered at and attending a post-secondary educational institution;”
“a person who is accommodated in a room for more than thirty consecutive days; or”
“a person and the person's family accommodated while the person or a member of the person's family is receiving medical treatment at a hospital or provincial healthcare center or seeking specialist medical advice, provided the person provides to the operator a statement from a hospital or provincial healthcare center stating that: (i) the person or a member of the person's family is receiving medical treatment at the hospital or center or from a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Province of Nova Scotia; (ii) as a result thereof the person or member of the person's family is in need of the accommodation; and (iii) the duration that the accommodation will be required.”
Charged to guests, not an owner cost
The levy and HST (14%) are added to the guest’s bill. HST is charged on the levy as well as on the room: a municipal levy is part of the price HST applies to, and no Nova Scotia marketing levy is on the federal list of levies left out of that price. The Marketing Levy By-law charges the levy on the guest’s purchase of the stay; you collect it. The levy is separate from HST, which is a federal and provincial sales tax.
The levy is one regional program with the Towns of Truro and Stewiacke and Millbrook First Nation, administered by the Municipality of Colchester. Each place of business needs its own levy registration, and levy payments for County properties go to the Municipality.
Any bill, receipt or invoice given to a guest must show the levy as a separate item. Registration and reports go through the program's site.
Provincial registration
Register each unit with the Province before advertising it. The first application includes Colchester 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.
Which County document serves as the land-use proof for a first provincial registration: the Property Status Report, a Development Permit or another document. Ask the Development Officer's office. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
How often levy reports and payments are due. Confirm the schedule with the Tourism Marketing Levy Coordinator. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Do Colchester County's rules apply in Tatamagouche?
Yes. Tatamagouche is in the Municipality, and the county-wide Land Use By-law replaced the former Tatamagouche Village Land Use By-law when it took effect. Is a short-term rental allowed here? →
Does Colchester's by-law allow whole-home rentals in residential zones?
No. It treats a whole-home rental as Accommodations, a use none of its residential zones lists, so it is prohibited in them. Renting part of the home you live in is a Guest Home, which most of those zones list. Is a short-term rental allowed here? →
Does Airbnb collect Colchester's marketing levy for the host?
No. As of 28 Sep 2026, the levy program asks hosts to add the levy with the platform's own host booking tools, then report and remit it themselves. Marketing levy →
Who to contact
Development Officer's office, Community Development, Municipality of the County of Colchester, 902-897-3170, contact page