Short-term rental: new regulations and guidance documents

The Town of Sutton has adopted new by-laws, effective November 22, 2023, concerning tourist accommodations and short-term rentals. Guides, currently online, have been produced by the Urban and Land-Use Planning Department to accompany authorization requests, depending on the type of residence.

Key points of the new regulations

The list of new regulations that came into force on November 22, 2023 can be found in the Short-Term Rental section of the website (full list of regulations available here).

The new regulations include the following obligations:

  • A report of compliance with current fire safety standards must be issued by the Public Safety Department, following a visit to the site covered by the application;
  • The tourist residence must also comply with current health and nuisance standards;
  • A written engagement signed by the operator to comply with the following points must be provided:
    • Ensure compliance with municipal regulations on nuisances, safety and sanitation;Display inside the establishment the certificate of authorization issued by the town and an information sheet on regulations applicable to tourist residences;
    • Ensure adequate surveillance of the leased premises;
  • The operator must keep a rental register containing, as a minimum, the following information:
    • The name and address of each tenant;
    • Date and duration of stay;
    • At the Town’s request, the operator must provide it with a copy of the register to enable it to monitor and enforce municipal regulations;
  • A person or legal entity, or an ultimate beneficiary of a legal entity, may not own, in whole or in part, more than one building in which one tourist residence is authorized as an accessory use;
  • The maximum capacity of a principal residence is set at two (2) travellers per bedroom, without exceeding the capacity of the septic installations or a maximum of 8 people;
  • The use of an accessory building for tourist accommodation is prohibited;
  • An attestation certifying that the septic system complies with the Règlement sur l’évacuation et le traitement des eaux usées des résidences isolées (Q-2, R.22), particularly with regard to the hydraulic capacity of the system in relation to the number of bedrooms.
  • Where the drinking water supply does not come from a municipal water supply system, a certificate from a laboratory accredited by the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs, certifying that the drinking water is of good quality and meets the standards set out in current regulations;
  • New tourist home establishments are only authorized under the Conditional Use By-law, inside a main residential building existing on June 1, 2023, with the exception of zones included in the Urbanization Perimeter – Downtown Sector, identified in the Master Plan, and Conservation (CONS) zones;
  • In all other zones, a quota for tourist residence establishments has been established:
    • Zones included in the urbanization perimeter – Maple sector
      • 200-metre distance
    • Agricultural zones (A) :
      • 1 establishment per zone and 500-meter setback
    • Other zones:
      • 1 establishment per zone and 300-metre setback

Guidance documents

The Urban and Land-Use Planning Department has just produced a number of documents to help citizens who wish to apply for a short-term rental permit. Depending on the type of tourist accommodation authorized, you will find in each case a guide explaining the detailed procedure to follow and the applicable framework (actually in French, translation to come):

Application for municipal authorization

In addition to CITQ authorization, municipal authorization is required to operate a tourist accommodation establishment.

To apply for a municipal authorization and find out what documents are required, see the “Short-term rental” section on the Application for a Permit or Certificate page.

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