Airbnb and short-term rental rules in Richmond 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. Outside the four secondary plan areas, entire-home rentals are Accommodations, a main use in eleven zones with no residence test, capped per lot in five; the plan areas differ.
Can I?
The home you live in (as Richmond County’s by-law defines it)In some zones
The Municipality of the County of Richmond, Nova Scotia, has a county-wide Land Use By-law that names entire-home rentals to travellers as an accommodation use and lists it zone by zone, with no residence test outside the home-based business route. Four plan areas keep older by-laws of their own.
The County's rules reach Arichat, St. Peter's, Isle Madame, Louisdale, River Bourgeois and L'Ardoise, but not the Town of Port Hawkesbury: Where this guide applies.
The Town of Port Hawkesbury is a separate municipality. Point Tupper, in the West Richmond plan area, is part of Richmond County, not of the Town.
Is a short-term rental allowed here?
Across the unit
The home you live in (as Richmond County’s by-law defines it)In some zonesAllowed in the same zones as Accommodations, and also as a home-based business in the operator's principal residence: 1 or 2 units (Level I) or up to 5 units (Level II), in the zones that permit those levels.
A home you don’t live inIn some zonesAllowed as Accommodations where the zone lists it: up to 3 rental units per lot in the Residential Centre, Hamlet Residential, Rural General, Agriculture Potential and Lakeshore zones, with no cap in the commercial and hamlet core zones. Not listed in the industrial, fishing, park, institutional, source water, conservation and comprehensive development zones.
up to 3 rental units per lot in the R, HR, RG, AP and RL zones; no cap in the MS, GC, HC, RC, HWY and CR zones
“Accommodation means the provision of a building, buildings, or part thereof to a single party or group of 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; hostels; and entire home, individual room, cottage, cabin, geodesic dome, or yurt rentals. ... 15.1.1 The following uses shall be permitted in Rural General (RG) Zone subject to the requirements of this By-law: (a) Accommodations – up to 3 rental units per lot”
Outside the four plan areas, the by-law offers two routes. Accommodations is a main use with no residence test, uncapped in commercial and hamlet core zones and capped per lot in residential, rural, farm and lakeshore zones. A home-based business needs the operator's principal residence.
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission whether a whole home counts as one rental unit toward that cap. In the four plan areas, ask it how it classifies a rental, and check the zoning map for a lot's zone or plan area.
Municipal step
Municipal step · Registration
Levy registration certificate
Issued by
Municipality of the County of Richmond (the by-law is administered by the Chief Administrative Officer or a person the CAO designates)
Conditions
One certificate for each place of business
Displayed in a prominent place on the premises
Returned for amendment when the address changes; a new certificate when the business's name or nature changes
Not transferable
Applies to
Both the home you live in and a home you don’t
Term
No expiry stated; void when the operator stops carrying on the business, and returned to the Municipality within 15 days
The certificate is the County's registration for its marketing levy, which the levy by-law requires of every operator of accommodation. It isn't a land-use approval. Ask the Municipality whether it carries a fee. Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission which document it issues for provincial registration, and whether a rental needs a permit. Provincial registration →
Steps and costs
Check the zone of the lot and confirm the use with Eastern District Planning Commission (planning for the County), (902) 625-5361, contact page.
Levy registration certificate, from Municipality of the County of Richmond (the by-law is administered by the Chief Administrative Officer or a person the CAO designates). Details
Register for the marketing levy and remit it on the bookings you collect it on. Details
Renew the Levy registration certificate (No expiry stated; void when the operator stops carrying on the business, and returned to the Municipality within 15 days).
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)
Levy registration certificate
isn’t published
isn’t published
Provincial registration
$50 a year
$500 per unit a year
First year, municipal and provincial
No total: the Levy registration certificate fee isn’t published
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 Richmond charges a 3% marketing levy on the Purchase Price of the Accommodation (hotels, motels and any facility required to register under the provincial accommodation registration), excluding HST, in force since 1 Jan 2024 under Municipality of the County of Richmond Marketing Levy By-law (60).
Who collects it
Airbnb’s tax page doesn’t list Richmond County (checked 28 Sep 2026). Unless your payout shows Airbnb collecting it, you add and remit it.
Vrbo’s tax page doesn’t list Richmond County (checked 28 Sep 2026). Unless your payout shows Vrbo collecting it, you add and remit it.
Booking.com’s tax page doesn’t list Richmond County (checked 28 Sep 2026). Unless your payout shows Booking.com collecting it, you add and remit it.
On direct bookings, you add it to the guest’s bill and remit it (as of 28 Sep 2026)
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 Municipality of the County of Richmond 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.
For a guest, the levy is charged on the purchase of the stay. For a host on a direct booking, it is money collected at the time of sale and passed to the County under the levy by-law, which also requires the registration certificate: Municipal step.
The by-law's return and remittance clause names Platform Operators as well as Operators. Port Hawkesbury runs its own levy: Nearby and often confused.
Provincial registration
Register each unit with the Province before advertising it. The first application includes Richmond 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 Richmond 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 which document it issues as the County's land-use confirmation for provincial registration, with its fee and processing time. (checked 6 Oct 2026 · source)
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission whether a whole home counts as one rental unit toward a zone's per-lot cap. (checked 6 Oct 2026 · source)
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission how the four secondary plan areas classify a whole-home rental; none names short-term rentals. (checked 6 Oct 2026 · source)
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission whether renting an existing home as accommodations is a change of use that needs a development permit. (checked 6 Oct 2026 · source)
Ask the Eastern District Planning Commission which zone or plan area a lot is in; the zoning maps were not read. (checked 6 Oct 2026 · source)
Does Richmond County have its own short-term rental by-law?
Not a separate one. The County's Land Use By-law defines accommodation to include entire-home, room, cottage and cabin rentals to the travelling public and lists it zone by zone, while four plan areas keep older by-laws that don't name short-term rentals. Is a short-term rental allowed here? →
What does Richmond County require besides provincial registration?
Every operator of accommodation needs the County's Levy registration certificate, which the Marketing Levy By-law requires. For the land-use document the Province asks for, ask the Eastern District Planning Commission which document it issues for provincial registration. Municipal step →
Who handles zoning questions for a rental in Richmond County?
The Eastern District Planning Commission provides planning for the County: Eastern District Planning Commission (planning for the County), (902) 625-5361, contact page. Ask it which zone or plan area a property is in, and how its by-law treats a short-term rental there. Who to contact →
How is the Richmond County marketing levy charged?
Guests pay 3% of the purchase price of the stay, under the County's Marketing Levy By-law. On direct bookings, the host collects it at the time of sale and remits it to the County. Marketing levy →
Do the rules differ on Isle Madame or in St. Peter's?
Yes. Isle Madame, St. Peter's, Central Richmond and West Richmond each have a land-use by-law of their own, and none of the four names short-term rentals, so ask the Eastern District Planning Commission how it classifies a rental under the plan area's by-law. Is a short-term rental allowed here? →