Airbnb and short-term rental rules in Bridgewater, 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
Bridgewater’s land-use by-law doesn’t name short-term rentals as a use. The closest defined use is a bed and breakfast for a host who lives there, or an inn for a building let to travellers. How a rental is classified is the development officer’s decision, and you can ask for it in writing.
Can I?
The home you live in (as Bridgewater’s by-law defines it)In some zones
The Town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, requires every accommodation operator, short-term rentals included, to hold a Letter of Compliance confirming compliance with its land-use by-law, and charges guests a 3%marketing levy. The land-use by-law never names short-term rentals, so the letter is the Town's written word on whether a given rental complies.
The District of Lunenburg, a separate municipality, surrounds the town, and a Bridgewater mailing address doesn't by itself show which of the two a property is in; the property tax bill names it.
Is a short-term rental allowed here?
Across the unit
The home you live in (as Bridgewater’s by-law defines it)In some zonesAs a bed and breakfast run as a home-based business: the owner's principal residence, with a resident owner or manager providing overnight accommodation and meals, in the residential zones and the Restricted, Neighbourhood and Special Commercial and Agricultural zones
A home you don’t live inNot named in the by-lawNot named for a whole home let with no host. Hotels and inns are permitted only in some commercial zones and the Industrial (M1) zone, or by development agreement
at most three rental units in a bed and breakfast
Closest defined use: a bed and breakfast for a host who lives there, or an inn for a building let to travellers
“s.3.1.24: 'a home based business shall be permitted in any dwelling unit or a building accessory to a dwelling unit, provided that all of the following requirements are met: a. The dwelling shall be the principal residence of the business owner; ... c. A home based business use shall be one of the following: i. Bed & Breakfasts, up to a maximum of three rental units'. Section 11: 'Bed and Breakfast | a dwelling in which there is a resident owner or manager who provides overnight accommodation and meals ... to the travelling public for financial remuneration.' s.3.1.1(b): 'if a use is not listed as a permitted development in a zone, or if it is not accessory to a permitted use within the zone, it shall be deemed to be a prohibited use in that zone'.”
A bed and breakfast, as the by-law defines it, has a resident owner or manager providing overnight accommodation and meals. The by-law doesn't describe letting the home you live in while you're away, or a whole home with no host, and it deems any use it doesn't list for a zone prohibited there.
For a given property, requesting the letter is how you get the Town's answer: it confirms that the accommodation complies with the by-law. Municipal step →
Municipal step
Municipal step · Letter
Letter of Compliance
Issued by
Community Development Department, Town of Bridgewater
Conditions
Confirms the accommodation complies with the Land Use By-law
One letter for each place of business; not transferable
Fee
$100
Applies to
Both the home you live in and a home you don’t
Processing time
not published
Term
No expiry stated. Void if the business stops or is sold; amended if the address, business name or type of accommodation changes
Every accommodation operator needs the letter under the Town's marketing levy by-law, not its land-use by-law. Request it before you register with the Province, whose first application includes it. Provincial registration →
Steps and costs
Check the zone of the lot and confirm the use with Town of Bridgewater, Community Development Department, (902) 543-4651, contact page.
Letter of Compliance, from Community Development Department, Town of Bridgewater. Details
Register for the marketing levy and remit it on the bookings you collect it on. Details
Renew the Letter of Compliance (No expiry stated. Void if the business stops or is sold; amended if the address, business name or type of accommodation changes).
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)
Letter of Compliance
$100
$100
Provincial registration
$50 a year
$500 per unit a year
First year, municipal and provincial
$150
$600
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 Town of Bridgewater charges a 3% marketing levy on the price of the accommodation, including its optional and service fees but not meals, experiences or other services, in force since 1 Apr 2025 under Chapter 220, Marketing Levy By-Law.
Who collects it
On Airbnb, you add it to the guest’s bill and remit it (as of 28 Sep 2026)
Vrbo collects it at booking for stays from 1 May 2025 (as of 28 Sep 2026)
Booking.com’s tax page doesn’t list Bridgewater (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)
Remitting it
monthly to the Town of Bridgewater, within 30 days of the end of each month.
Exemptions
Ask the Town of Bridgewater's Finance Department which exemptions from the levy operators should apply.
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 Chapter 220, 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.
Where you collect the levy, the by-law asks for it as a separate item on the guest's receipt or invoice, and for a return even for a period with nothing collected.
The by-law also makes platforms collect and remit the levy, but the Town's levy page says the responsibility rests with the accommodation provider: where a platform doesn't collect it, you do. The page expects platforms' practice to vary during the rollout, so each channel's line is dated.
Provincial registration
Register each unit with the Province before advertising it. The first application includes Bridgewater’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 Town of Bridgewater 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 Community Development Department how it classifies a whole home let to travellers with no host: as a dwelling, or as an inn or hotel. The land-use by-law doesn't define it. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Ask the Community Development Department whether the Letter of Compliance fee is charged once or again at intervals, and where it is set. The levy page gives the amount, and the levy by-law gives the letter no term. (checked 28 Sep 2026 · source)
Does Bridgewater, NS have a minimum-stay rule for short-term rentals?
Neither the Town of Bridgewater's land-use by-law nor its marketing levy by-law sets a minimum stay, so the month-long minimum that turns up in searches doesn't come from either. Whether a rental is allowed turns on the land-use by-law, confirmed property by property through the Letter of Compliance. Is a short-term rental allowed here? →
Does Airbnb collect and remit Bridgewater's marketing levy?
Airbnb doesn't remit it: on Airbnb, you add the levy to the guest's bill and remit it yourself, as operators have had to since 1 Apr 2025 (as of 28 Sep 2026). The Town's levy page says you set it up as a tax in your Airbnb profile, and Airbnb charges it and passes it on to you to remit. Marketing levy →
How do I calculate and pay Bridgewater's levy myself?
The levy is 3% of the price of the accommodation, including its optional and service fees but not meals, experiences or other services, and where HST applies to the stay it is charged on the levy as well as on the room. You send the Town a return monthly, within 30 days of the end of each month, even for a period with nothing collected. Marketing levy →