The AHLA advocates on behalf of members on many issues related to fair & positive regulatory environment for our industry. Learn more about our key areas of focus:
Tourism Levy
The Tourism Levy Act requires that providers of temporary accommodation in Alberta collect and remit the levy to Alberta Finance Tax and Revenue Administration. The AHLA estimates that 1200 hotels and motels from communities across Alberta collect and remit the levy. Roughly 96% of the guest rooms on which the levy is charged are owned by AHLA members.
When the Tourism Levy came into effect on April 1, 2005, the Minister stated that all of the funds collected would be used for tourism marketing and development.
Our ask:
- Allocate the full amount of the Tourism Levy to Travel Alberta through legislation.
- Exempt rooms provided to contractors (sub-contractors) for the purposes of capital improvements and maintenance from having to remit the Tourism Levy.
Short Term Rentals
Governments at all levels are grappling with the implications of the growing short-term rental industry. There is an acute need for federal, provincial and municipal governments to put in place a modern regulatory framework to address the stresses and unintended consequences created by short-term rentals.
Our ask
Provincially:
- Review & modernize legislation including the Condominium Property Act, Residential Tenancies Act, Innkeepers Act, and Tourism Levy Act to reflect the new realities of the sharing economy.
- Permit a maximum of 30 room nights for short-term online rentals and home-sharing.
- Make home-sharing platforms legally responsible for:
- Collecting and remitting the Tourism Levy on behalf of hosts, and
- Sharing information related to host listings and rental activity
- Require all providers of short term accommodation to comply with cleanliness, health, and safety regulations.
Municipally:
- Restrict home-sharing activity to principal residences only for a maximum of 30 nights.
- Require all providers of short term accommodation to hold a current business license and occupancy permit and carry adequate property and liability insurance.
- Require all providers of short term accommodation to comply with municipal bylaws and zoning.
- Require Short Term Rental platforms like Airbnb to be licensed with the municipality.
Federally:
- The AHLA will work alongside the Hotel Association of Canada to develop a national strategy with recommendations to government.
Short-Term Online Rental Marketplace (STORM)
In 2017, the AHLA, in partnership with the Hotel Association of Canada, released a study that demonstrated that commercial operators were growing exponentially, far outpacing actual home-sharing activity.
VLT Commissions
The pandemic laid bare the failure of VLT commissions to keep pace with the rising costs of labour, utilities, and insurance. Increasing the commission paid to VLT retailers would have a significant impact on small and medium sized businesses in rural and remote areas of Alberta ability to maintain their operations. The Government of Saskatchewan recently enacted this same measure to support VLT retailers in the province and bring rates in line with other jurisdictions.
Our ask
Increase VLT Commissions paid to retailers from 15% to 18%.