'Sustainable' short-term rental co-op launches in Toronto in North American first
Downtown Toronto will be the first testing ground in North America for a short-term rental co-operative that hopes to put ‘sharing’ back in the sharing economy.
Fairbnb Co-op — launched by Toronto-based organizers who will expand a European site — says it will share revenue with community projects, limit tourism to rentals that don’t displace locals and try to beat big platforms like Airbnb at their own game.
“We will put booking fees and money back into the community where they operate,” Thorben Wieditz of Fairbnb Canada told CTV News Toronto on Thursday.
Fairbnb Co-op site
The site launched on Thursday in Kensington Market — a neighbourhood locals say has been hard hit by the displacement that short-term rental platforms can encourage, with some landlords preferring tourists to residents.
“Pre-pandemic, it was dramatic. There was a point at which I didn’t have any neighbours any more,” Dominique Russell, the co-chair of the Kensington Market Community Land Trust, said.
“I would easily say we’ve been very viscerally ground zero for many of these issues,” Serena Purdy, the chair of Friends of Kensington Market, said.
Both hope the launch of Fairbnb Co-op in Toronto will be an opportunity for travelling customers to enjoy the benefits of short-term rental accommodation, but know their dollars are going in part to support the land trust and the permanent affordable housing it supports in a building the trust recently acquired on Kensington Avenue.
“People who live there will be allowed to stay there and it will be affordable housing in perpetuity,” Russell said.
Wieditz said the site will restrict rentals to only those in primary residences, using spare rooms or while the residents are on holiday.
That’s roughly equivalent to the City of Toronto’s rules — though the city has, in some cases, struggled to enforce those rules.
“We know once we start an ethical alternative customers will move over to the co-operative and we will be playing by the city’s rules, which ironically we helped to set up,” Wieditz said.
Fairbnb Co-op’s site already shows listings for many European cities. Organizers in Toronto hope to get the first listings up in March 2022 — in time for what they hope will be a tourism renaissance.
Their plan is to scale up and do the same across Canada.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
opinion I've been a criminal attorney for decades. Here's what I think about the case against Trump
Joey Jackson, a criminal defence attorney and a legal analyst for CNN, outlines what he thinks about the criminal case against Donald Trump in the 'hush money trial.'
$3.8M home in B.C.'s Okanagan has steel shell for extra wildfire protection
A home in B.C.'s Okanagan that features a weathering steel shell designed to provide some protection against wildfires has been listed for sale at $3.8 million.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
Celebrity designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags
A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the 'Sex and the City' TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.
Wildfire leads to evacuation order issued for northeast Alberta community
An evacuation order was issued on Monday afternoon for homes in the area of Cold Lake First Nation.