Every short-term rental in Toronto — a stay under 28 consecutive days — needs a registration on file with the City before it's listed or booked anywhere, including your own direct-booking site. This isn't a one-time approval process the way a business licence is; it's an annual registration you renew.
The 2026 fee is $375 for a new registration and $390 to renew. Operating without one is enforced: fines range from $1,000 to $100,000 per the City's bylaw.
Toronto's bylaw only lets a host register their own principal residence — the home they actually live in. That can be the whole unit, a private room, or a basement suite, but it rules out registering a second property or a pure investment condo as a short-term rental under this program.
This is the detail that trips up portfolio operators moving from other Canadian cities: Toronto's regime is built around owner-occupiers renting out spare capacity, not around multi-unit STR businesses.
If you're renting your entire principal residence while you're away, Toronto caps that at 180 nights per calendar year, tracked January to December. Rent out a private room or basement suite instead — while you keep living in the rest of the unit — and there's no night cap at all; you can accept bookings 365 days a year.
Registering with the City doesn't override your condominium corporation's own declaration or bylaws. Many Toronto condo boards prohibit short-term rentals outright regardless of what the municipal bylaw allows — check with the board before a unit owner registers, not after.