Airbnb and short-term rental rules on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Five: each municipality on the island charges its own under its own by-law, though together they're often called the Cape Breton Island marketing levy. Each by-law sets its own rate, exemptions and remittance rules, and one can change without the others. At a glance →

On a direct booking, in all five municipalities, you add the levy to the guest's bill and remit it. On Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, you add and remit it too unless your payout shows the platform collecting it. At a glance →

Yes, wherever HST applies to the stay: in all five municipalities it is charged on the levy as well as on the room, because 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. Each by-law charges the levy on the guest's purchase of the stay; the levy and the HST (14%) both go on the guest's bill, so neither is an owner cost.

Yes: confirmation of land-use compliance from the municipality is required with every new provincial application, and all five also require a levy registration certificate, though none has a licence written for short-term rentals. CBRM's document is its Zoning Confirmation for Accommodation Host, and Inverness County also requires a development permit for a change of use. For Inverness, Richmond and Victoria counties and Port Hawkesbury, ask the Eastern District Planning Commission which document it issues for provincial registration; Victoria County asks for the request in writing. Municipal steps compared →

Not to rent out a whole home: the licence covers rooms rented separately with a shared kitchen and bathroom. Ask CBRM's planning office whether a whole-home rental fits its land-use rules. The five municipalities →