Richmond allows only part of your own home as a short-term rental. Here are the two City licences, the BC registry step, and the whole-home ban to check first.
Applies in: British Columbia
In Richmond, a legal short-term rental is a room — or rooms — inside the home you live in, not a whole home rented out on its own. Richmond defines a short-term rental as the rental of part of a dwelling unit for overnight stays, for less than 90 consecutive days, in exchange for payment. You must register with the City and hold the right business licence, and you must also register with British Columbia's provincial short-term rental registry.
The rule that trips up most plans is the whole-home ban. Richmond states that short-term rental of an entire house or residential unit for less than 90 days is not permitted under any circumstances. If your plan is to vacate your house and hand the keys to guests, no licence choice fixes that. A stay of more than 90 days is different: Richmond's residential rentals rules note that long-term rentals of more than 90 days are allowed in residential-zoned properties, single-family and multi-family, as long as there are no Bed and Breakfast operations in the home.
This guide explains the process only. It is not legal advice. Confirm your specific address and setup with the City's Business Licence Department before you spend money or take bookings.
Test your plan against three points: you must live in the home as your principal residence, guests rent part of the dwelling while you remain living there, and each stay is less than 90 consecutive days. If any of those three fails, rethink the plan rather than applying and hoping the detail is overlooked.
Strata owners face a fourth check: if your home is a strata lot, you need written permission from the strata council and must abide by all strata bylaws.
Richmond offers two licence options, and the property must meet all the criteria for the one you choose. Both are renewed annually.
A Bed and Breakfast licence is the narrower housing option with the larger guest allowance. The home must be a single detached house — not an apartment, duplex, or townhome — operated by the individual registered owner or an immediate family member, with written permission from the registered owner where the operator is not the owner. The operator must reside in the home as their principal residence.
The guest limits are specific: a maximum of three rooms at the same time, and a maximum of six guests, two per room. Operators must notify neighbours and provide contact information. A 500-metre distance from existing Bed and Breakfast rentals is also required for all new operations, so an otherwise suitable house can still fail if a licensed Bed and Breakfast is already too close.
Two exclusions catch people out. A Bed and Breakfast is not permitted in a home that has a secondary suite, a granny flat, or a coach house, and the operator must not hold a Boarding and Lodging licence at the same time. At renewal, the operator must also provide annual verification of residency.
The application packet is heavier than a simple form. Richmond asks for a business licence application form, identification proving that the owner or an immediate family member resides in the home, floor plans drawn to scale labelling the proposed rooms, and a fire evacuation plan showing each proposed room, including exits, fire extinguishers, and smoke detectors. That plan must be posted in each bedroom used for guests. You will also need a landscaping and site plan, a parking plan, a sign permit application for any signs, a sample neighbour notification letter, and a copy of the guest registration form.
A Boarding and Lodging licence covers more housing types but far fewer guests. It can apply to a single detached house, duplex, apartment, or townhouse. It must be operated from your principal residence by the individual registered owner, a director of a corporate registered owner, or someone with written permission of the registered owner, and the operator must live in the home.
The guest limit is strict: a maximum of two guests at any one time. If the home is in a strata building, you need written permission from the strata council and must abide by all strata bylaws. You must not hold a Bed and Breakfast business licence at the same time, and hosts are not permitted to provide separate cooking facilities in the guest rooms. Boarding and Lodging is not permitted in a secondary suite, coach house, or granny flat.
The Boarding and Lodging application packet is shorter than the Bed and Breakfast one: the City's short-term rental guide asks for identification, a sample guest registration form, and an application for any signs.
That last point is easy to misread. BC's principal residence rule generally covers the host's principal residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property. Richmond's Boarding and Lodging rules, however, bar that licence in a secondary suite, coach house, or granny flat. Do not treat provincial registration as permission to rent a separate suite in Richmond. If a suite is central to your plan, ask the City's Business Licence Department how, if at all, that setup can qualify before you list it.
Applications go to Richmond's Business Licence Department: in person at City Hall, 6911 No. 3 Road, from 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays, by phone at 604-276-4328, or by email at BusLic@richmond.ca. Applications can also be mailed to the City of Richmond Business Licence Division, 6911 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC V6Y 2C1, with a cheque payable to the City of Richmond.
Richmond states that applications will not be processed without the application fee. The fee amount itself is set in the Consolidated Fees Bylaw — see the costs section below — and the City publishes no processing timeline for these two licences: the general business licence timing it does publish, about four to six weeks, explicitly excludes home-based businesses. Confirm the current fee and the expected timeline with the Business Licence Department at 604-276-4328 or BusLic@richmond.ca before you submit anything. Do not rely on a fee quoted on a third-party site. Do not promise guests a start date until the licence is in hand.
Once licensed, check whether any change to room count or operator still fits your licence before you make it.
Separate from the City licence, BC requires short-term rental hosts to register with the provincial short-term rental registry. BC defines a short-term rental as accommodation provided to members of the public in exchange for money, for a period of less than 90 consecutive days, not including stays at hotels or motels. Registration is renewed annually.
To register where the principal residence requirement applies, you must show that the rental is in your principal residence, or in a secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property, under BC's general rule. The registry asks for one proof of identity — a BC driver's licence, BC Services Card, combined BC driver's licence and Services Card, or BC identification card — and at least two supporting documents, for example a property tax notice, home insurance summary, land title certificate, or current-year property assessment notice. Tenants must submit a residential tenancy agreement or a notice of rent increase dated within the last year as one of those documents. Documents must be current, and the name and address on them must match the host name and the rental address. The registry also asks for a local government business licence where one is required — in Richmond, the City licence from Step 3.
Confirm the City licence path first, then complete BC registration with the City licence in hand where the registry asks for it. A provincial registration number alone does not make a Richmond setup legal if the City licence is missing.
Budget for two annual fees, not one. BC's registry charges $101.50 a year ($100 fee plus a $1.50 service fee) for the unit you live in — the shape Richmond requires. A self-contained unit you do not live in is $451.50 a year, and BC counts a secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on your own property in that tier — but that shape does not fit Richmond's Bed and Breakfast or Boarding and Lodging licences, which bar suites rented on their own. BC registration is valid for one year and can be renewed starting 40 days before expiry; renewing early does not move the expiry date, and if you do not renew on time the listing may be removed and future bookings will be cancelled.
The City licence fee is separate and is set in the Consolidated Fees Bylaw; the City's short-term rental pages refer you to that bylaw rather than publishing the amount themselves. The fee schedule figure in force from January 1, 2025 was $423 for both licence types, and the bylaw already sets $441 for both types from January 1, 2027. Fees are adjusted annually, so confirm the current figure with the Business Licence Department at 604-276-4328 or BusLic@richmond.ca before you apply.
Once both numbers exist, display your provincial registration number and, where required, your local business licence number on all listings — Richmond also requires the licence number to be clearly indicated on advertisements, listings, and platforms. BC states that platforms will remove unregistered listings and cancel their bookings. Operating outside the rules carries real risk: the City's guide notes that fines can reach a maximum penalty of $50,000, and a licence will not be issued for a property that is not in compliance with City bylaws and active permits.
Stay inside the limits you were licensed under: the guest cap for your licence type, no separate cooking facilities in Boarding and Lodging guest rooms, no whole-home stays under 90 days, and neighbour contact information kept current for a Bed and Breakfast. Keep the fire evacuation plan posted in each guest bedroom for a Bed and Breakfast, and renew both licences annually.
If your plan does not fit either City licence — a whole home, a separate suite rented on its own, a home you do not live in, or a strata that will not give written permission — the compliant move is a longer rental of more than 90 days, or no short-term rental at all, until the setup changes.
No. Richmond states that short-term rental of an entire house or residential unit for less than 90 days is not permitted under any circumstances. The City's short-term rental rules cover part of a dwelling unit where you live, not a whole home handed over to guests.
A Bed and Breakfast licence is for a single detached house run by the registered owner or an immediate family member, with up to three rooms and six guests, two per room, and a 500-metre distance from existing Bed and Breakfast rentals. A Bed and Breakfast also cannot operate in a home that has a secondary suite, granny flat, or coach house, and its operator must not hold a Boarding and Lodging licence at the same time. A Boarding and Lodging licence can cover a single detached house, duplex, apartment, or townhouse, but it allows only two guests at a time, bars separate cooking facilities in guest rooms, and cannot be held alongside a Bed and Breakfast licence.
Yes, where each one applies. The City licence is the local permission to operate, and the provincial registry is a separate BC registration. BC requires hosts to display their provincial registration number and, where required, their local business licence number on all listings, so one does not replace the other.
Not under a Boarding and Lodging licence: Richmond bars that licence in a secondary suite, coach house, or granny flat. BC's general rule mentions a principal residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property, but that provincial wording does not override Richmond's local licence limits. Check with Richmond's Business Licence Department before you assume a suite qualifies.
Proof of principal residence, where it is required. The registry asks for one piece of identification, such as a BC driver's licence, BC Services Card, or BC identification card, plus at least two supporting documents, such as a property tax notice, home insurance summary, land title certificate, or property assessment notice. The name and address on the documents must match the host name and the rental address.
Get written permission from the strata council and follow all strata bylaws, on top of the City and BC steps. A City licence and a provincial registration number do not override a strata ban, so confirm the strata position in writing before you list anything.
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