City wants short-term rental unit property owners to report all emergency-service responses By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 6:16 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 15, 2026

New rules could require the owners of short-term rental units, such as Airbnbs and VRBOs, to tell the city every time an emergency responder is called to their properties.

A city proposal calls for that change, along with a requirement for live-in owners to provide more proof of that residence and for co-owners/adult residents of the rentals to complete criminal record checks.

Requiring first responder visits to be reported would help the city track rentals with repeated concerns, said Winston Yee, the city’s manager of licensing and bylaw enforcement.

“It’s so that we can become aware of issues… and then see if there are additional measures that we can put in place to address those issues,” Yee said during an executive policy committee meeting Tuesday.

EPC voted to delay its vote on the changes to a future meeting, which is expected to take place in December.

Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters he supports the proposed changes but more details are needed to ensure violations can be enforced with meaningful consequences.

“I certainly want to see us have more teeth for enforcement when it comes to identifying a short-term rental that may be a problematic property…. If it’s a property where police have to show up or firefighters have to show up, we want to know about those instances so that our enforcement team can be sure they’re doing all they can to hold the owner accountable,” said Gillingham.

“I certainly want to see us have more teeth for enforcement when it comes to identifying a short-term rental that may be a problematic property.”

The city’s short-term rental accommodations licensing program took effect in April 2024, after some residents called for tighter controls on the industry. There were complaints about short-term rental units near their homes hosting wild parties, noise, violence, vandalism and other criminal activity.

However, some owners said the units are an important part of the local economy, with a few bad operators hurting the industry’s reputation.

Gillingham said more could be done to address noise complaints and to ensure property owners fulfil the proposed requirement to report all emergency responses to the city.

“Right now, there seems to be no real way to cause compliance for property owners to report that the police have had to show up to a property or firefighters have had to show up at a property. We’re working through the details of how that information can be compelled,” he said.

Under the current proposal, operators would require renters to “immediately” report any first responder visits. The operator would then be required to notify the city within five days, “with failure to do so potentially resulting in licence suspension, or revocation,” a city report says.

However, a Winnipegger who lived in a downtown building with many short-term rentals for years, said he fears it would be too easy for rental owners to claim they weren’t aware of emergency responses, since many don’t live in the units.

“You don’t know if you’re going to be safe.”

Craig, who did not want his last name published, said he would prefer to see the city set a maximum limit on the number of short-term rentals that can be operated in existing residential buildings.

“We need to protect… the overall impact on the neighbourhood and the community…. You never know what you’re going to get, you don’t know if you’re going to be safe,” he said.

Craig said he moved out of the building late last year, following security concerns arising from repeated parties, drug use, violence and weapons threats. In one case, he said he chased a man off his balcony who had also been spying on his home with a drone.

He said the city should also tie infractions of its rules to specific, measurable outcomes, such as suspending an owner’s short-term rental licence after a set number of noise/party complaints or police incidents.

Melanie Mitchell, president of the Manitoba Association of Short-Term Rental Owners, said she’s not concerned by the matter being delayed to ensure the rules have teeth.

“There has to be some plan on how to implement them or how to enforce (the rules) or there’s really no point and it’s a huge waste of time. If you’re running your business properly, you’re not going to ever have to know about penalties or have to pay any,” said Mitchell.

She is not concerned by the call for more criminal record checks and proof of residence. The report says the latter could be provided through tax and insurance documents.

“I think you can manage your property more tightly if you live right nearby,” she said.

“If an ambulance comes and picks up my guest… do I have a risk of losing my licence?

However, she said the duty to report visits from emergency responders could create privacy concerns if they guests don’t want to divulge medical issues.

“If an ambulance comes and picks up my guest, takes them in for heart issues… and I didn’t know about it, do I have a risk of losing my licence and my livelihood because I didn’t watch the camera 24 hours a day and see that?” said Mitchell.

She said it may make more sense for the city to require all police calls be reported.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga