Airbnb and short-term rental rules in St. Margarets Bay and Tantallon, 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 the plan areas that allow one short-term rental per lot, a whole home must be the operator's primary residence unless its zone allows tourist or commercial accommodation.
Can I?
The home you live in (as HRM’s by-law defines it)Allowed
In the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, the St. Margarets Bay plan area (Planning Districts 1 and 3) has a land-use rule of its own: its by-law permits one dwelling unit per lot, rented to travellers for gain, whether or not it is the operator's home. The plan area takes in Tantallon, Head of St Margarets Bay, Seabright, Queensland and the HRM side of Hubbards.
Which municipality a property is in depends on where its parcel (PID) sits, not on the community name or the mailing address. The property tax bill shows it; either office can confirm it.
Hubbards straddles the line between HRM and the Municipality of the District of Chester, so a Hubbards parcel may fall under Chester's rules instead. The Peggy's Cove Preservation Area has its own land-use by-law, and the Stillwater Lake area sits outside this plan area.
Which plan area am I in?
The records don’t map communities to the St. Margarets Bay plan area yet. HRM’s zoning map shows a lot’s zone and plan area. Ask Planning & Development: call 311 and ask to speak to a planner, 311, contact page which plan area a lot is in.
A lot's plan area follows the parcel, not the community name or the mailing address. HRM's online zoning map shows a parcel's plan area and zone, and HRM's planners can confirm both for a civic address or PID: Who to contact. Community names can mislead; see the Hammonds Plains note.
Is a short-term rental allowed here?
Across the unit
The home you live in (as HRM’s by-law defines it)Allowedin any zone that permits homes, when the unit is where the operator normally lives
A home you don’t live inIn some zonesonly in zones that permit tourist or commercial accommodation, such as hotels or motels, or through a discretionary planning approval
A suite or second unit on the lot you live onIn some zonesonly as a commercial short-term rental, in a zone that permits one
“Short-term Rentals accessory to a residential use shall be permitted in all zones provided that the dwelling unit is the primary residence of the short-term rental operator.”
Source · checked 28 Sep 2026 · Confirmed in source
Planning Districts 1 & 3 (St. Margarets Bay)
The home you live in (as HRM’s by-law defines it)Allowedin any zone, when the unit is the operator's primary residence
A home you don’t live inAllowedone dwelling unit per lot, rented to travellers for gain, whether or not it is the operator's home
one dwelling unit per lot under the tourist-accommodation clause (s.4.30)
“s.4.30: "One dwelling unit per lot may be used as an accommodation for the travelling public, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, for gain or profit, pending all other requirements of the Land Use By-law are met." s.4.36(a): "Short-term Rentals accessory to a residential use shall be permitted in all zones provided that the dwelling unit is the primary residence of the short-term rental operator."”
The home you live in (as HRM’s by-law defines it)Allowedin any zone, when the unit is where the operator normally lives
A home you don’t live inAllowedone dwelling unit per lot, with no primary-residence test, if the lot meets the rest of the by-law
A suite or second unit on the lot you live onAllowedas the one short-term rental unit on the lot, if the lot meets the rest of the by-law
one short-term rental dwelling unit per lot
“Notwithstanding a) and b) above, one dwelling unit per lot may be used as a short-term rental, provided all other requirements of the Land Use By-law are met.”
Source · checked 28 Sep 2026 · Confirmed in source
Two provisions sit side by side here. The plan area's tourist-accommodation clause, in force since 15 Feb 2004, sets no primary-residence test, which is why a cottage its owner doesn't live in can qualify. HRM's region-wide short-term rental section separately covers the home you live in.
The clause belongs to this plan area's by-law and predates HRM's rural short-term rental changes. In the Village Gateway, Village Centre and Tourist Industry zones, short-term rentals are also a listed use. Other plan areas have their own rules: Plan areas in HRM.
HRM-wide rules that still apply
Municipal step
Municipal step · Letter
Zoning Confirmation Letter or Development Only Permit
Issued by
HRM Planning & Development, through the online PPLC permitting system
Fee
$200 for the letter; $250 for the permit (one time)
Applies to
Both the home you live in and a home you don’t
Term
The permit doesn't expire and can be reused for later provincial renewals
HRM counts a seasonal cottage its owner doesn't live in as a commercial short-term rental, which needs the Development Only Permit, even when the Province registers the cottage as a personal vacation home. For a whole home rented under the one-per-lot clause, confirm the document with Planning & Development: call 311 and ask to speak to a planner, 311, contact page before applying. What it costs →
Marketing levy
In force
The Halifax Regional Municipality charges a 3% marketing levy on the purchase price of the accommodation, in force since 1 Oct 2023 under By-law M-400, Respecting Marketing Levy.
Who collects it
Airbnb collects it at booking for stays from 1 Sep 2024 (as of 28 Sep 2026)
Vrbo collects it at booking for stays from 1 Oct 2024 (as of 28 Sep 2026)
Booking.com collects it at booking for stays from 1 Oct 2024 (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
Monthly to the Halifax Regional Municipality, by the 15th day of the month following the collection of the levy. Remittance portal
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;”
“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 health-care centre or seeking specialist medical advice, provided the person provides to the operator a statement from a hospital or provincial health-care centre that the person or a member of the person's family is receiving medical treatment at the hospital or centre or from a physician licensed to practice medicine in the Province of Nova Scotia or that the person or a member of the person's family is seeking specialist medical advice and as a result thereof the person or a member of the person's family is in need of and the duration of the accommodation.”
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 By-law M-400, Respecting Marketing Levy 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 plan area's land-use clause changes where a rental may operate, not what a guest pays. A stay in a cottage its owner doesn't live in carries the levy on the same terms as any other stay in HRM.
Steps and costs
Check the zone of the lot and confirm the use with Planning & Development: call 311 and ask to speak to a planner, 311, contact page.
Zoning Confirmation Letter or Development Only Permit, from HRM Planning & Development, through the online PPLC permitting system. Details
Residential Rental Registry, from HRM's Registrar under By-law R-400. Details
Register for the marketing levy and remit it on the bookings you collect it on. Details
Renew the Zoning Confirmation Letter or Development Only Permit (The permit doesn't expire and can be reused for later provincial renewals).
Renew the Residential Rental Registry (One-time registration; the registration number can be used when advertising).
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)
Zoning Confirmation Letter or Development Only Permit
$200 for the letter; $250 for the permit (one time)
$200 for the letter; $250 for the permit (one time)
Residential Rental Registry
No fee (one time)
No fee (one time)
Provincial registration
$50 a year
$240 to $2,000 per unit a year, by community tier
First year, municipal and provincial
No total: the Zoning Confirmation Letter or Development Only Permit fee has more than one amount
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.
Provincial registration
Register each unit with the Province before advertising it. The first application includes HRM’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; $240 to $2,000 per unit a year for a commercial short-term rental (a home you don’t live in), by the community’s tier; 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.
Provincial registration in HRM: a commercial short-term rental (a home you don't live in) pays a yearly fee per unit set by its community's tier in Schedule A, tier 1 for seven named communities and tier 2 for the rest. A personal vacation home pays the lower traditional rate, and a primary residence the primary-residence fee.
Source · checked 27 Sep 2026 · Confirmed in source
What we haven't confirmed yet
What Harbour East-Marine Drive Community Council decides after its public hearing on allowing one short-term rental per lot, with no primary-residence test, in Cow Bay outside the serviced area and in North Preston, Lake Major, Lake Loon, Cherry Brook and East Preston. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Whether the one-per-lot rule adopted for the Eastern Shore (West and East), Lawrencetown, Musquodoboit Valley and Dutch Settlement, and Lake Echo and Porters Lake plan areas covers each whole plan area or only its unserviced parts. In the Shubenacadie Lakes plan area, which includes Fall River, the by-law's clause has no such limit. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Which communities sit in the Chebucto Peninsula plan area, whose by-law has a one-per-lot clause like St. Margarets Bay. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
How a separate cleaning fee is treated in the levy's base: the by-law's definition of purchase price doesn't mention cleaning fees. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Can I rent my Tantallon cottage if it isn't my primary residence?
Yes, within limits: the St. Margarets Bay plan area's by-law, which covers Tantallon, permits one dwelling unit per lot, rented to travellers for gain, whether or not it is the operator's home. HRM's permit comes first, and the Province's fee depends on whether the cottage registers as a commercial short-term rental or as a personal vacation home. Municipal step →What it costs →
Which municipality's rules apply to a rental in Hubbards?
It depends on which side of the municipal line the parcel sits, because Hubbards is split between HRM and the Municipality of the District of Chester. On the HRM side, the St. Margarets Bay plan area's rules apply. Where this guide applies →
How do I check the zoning of a lot near St. Margarets Bay?
Start with the parcel, not the community name. HRM's online zoning map shows a lot's plan area and zone, and an HRM planner can confirm both for a civic address or PID. Which plan area am I in? →