Markham council voted down a staff proposal that would have permitted and licensed short term rentals city wide. The plan was rejected at the April 21, 2026 General Committee meeting. The result: nothing changes. Markham still prohibits short term rentals under 28 days in every residential zone, exactly as it has since May 2018.
If you read other coverage that framed this as “Markham now has no STR rules,” that’s wrong. Markham has very clear STR rules. They’re just rules that say you can’t operate one.
What Council Actually Rejected
The staff report titled “Regulation of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) in the City of Markham” (Marco Francisco, Supervisor of Business Licensing and Standards, with the City Clerk’s office) recommended five things:
- That Council receive the report.
- That Development Services staff prepare a city wide amendment to the Comprehensive Zoning By-law to permit short term rentals.
- That Council approve a regulatory framework to license STRs.
- That Legislative Services bring forward a Short-Term Rental Business Licensing By-law once zoning was amended.
- That staff be authorized to give effect to the resolution.
In other words, the proposal was not “Markham, should we crack down on Airbnbs?” It was “Markham, should we finally allow Airbnbs and put a licensing system around them?” Council said no.
The proposed framework would have included:
- A 180 night per calendar year cap for entire home rentals
- Operators required to register through licensed platforms and display a registration number on every listing
- Posted emergency contact and exit information
- City authority to inspect
- Platform fees ranging from $500 to $12,000 annually based on size, plus a $2 per night booking fee remitted by the platform
- Effective date target of July 1, 2026
None of that is now happening.
What’s Actually In Force
Per the staff report itself: “Markham’s Comprehensive Zoning By-law (CZB) and other applicable zoning by-laws currently does not permit STRs in any residential zone.”
The history goes back further. The same staff report notes: “Markham City Council last considered STRs in May 2018 as part of the CZB deliberations and resolved not to allow them in Markham.” That position was carried forward into the new Comprehensive Zoning By-law 2024-19, which the Ontario Land Tribunal approved in September 2024. STRs are not permitted “as of right” in any zone.
The proposed Markham definition of a short term rental, included in the rejected draft by-law, was “all or part of a dwelling unit that is rented for fewer than 28 consecutive days in exchange for payment.” Bed and breakfasts are included. Hotels, motels, and student residences operated by educational institutions are excluded.
That definition matters because it sets the line. Anything 28 days or longer falls outside the prohibition.
What the Numbers Say
The staff report contains some interesting data on the gap between policy and practice:
- Approximately 1,100 STR listings are currently active in Markham across Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com (the unique unit count is lower because of duplicate listings)
- The city’s Contact Centre receives roughly 95 STR-related inquiries or complaints per year, mostly about noise, parking, or property upkeep
- By-law Services opened 376 STR investigations in 2023, 108 in 2024, 161 in 2025, and 32 so far in 2026. Only 1 charge has been laid in 2026 to date
- Listings cluster in Unionville, Downtown Markham, the Highway 7 corridor, Cornell near Markham Stouffville Hospital, parts of Thornhill, and the Milliken/Pacific Mall area
So the prohibition is not aggressively enforced (a thousand listings, one charge), but enforcement is real when complaints land. When violations are identified, “property owners are directed to remove listings and cease operations, with further enforcement measures available if compliance is not achieved.”
You can operate. You will probably not get caught. But you have no defence if a neighbour complains, your insurance excludes losses on illegal use, and the city can order you to shut down at any time. That’s the actual risk picture.
Why Council Said No
The full vote breakdown isn’t published yet, but reading between the lines of the staff report’s own framing, the rejection makes sense in one direction: Markham has been a housing first city for years. Council has consistently prioritized preserving residential housing supply over enabling tourism accommodation. With York Region growth, tight rental vacancy, and ongoing affordability pressure, opening 1,100+ units to permitted Airbnb use was always going to be a hard political sell.
The staff position was essentially “we’re not enforcing this well anyway, so let’s bring STRs into a controlled framework where we can collect MAT and apply standards.” Council’s position appears to be “we’d rather hold the line on housing supply, even if enforcement is imperfect.”
Both are defensible. Council made its call.
What This Means If You Own a Property in Markham
The legal options for earning rental income:
Mid term and long term rentals (28 nights or longer). Anything 28 days or more is exempt from the STR definition and the prohibition. Furnished monthly rentals targeting corporate relocations, tech contractors at IBM, AMD, and the Highway 7 cluster, families between homes, and newcomers settling in Canada are all legal and don’t require any STR-specific approval. This is what most Markham hosts pivot to.
Renting up to two bedrooms in a single family home, 30+ days, with a written rental agreement. The city explicitly allows this provided the rooms don’t have separate bathroom and cooking facilities for exclusive use of the occupant.
Operating a short term rental in a different city. Richmond Hill (immediately west) has no STR regulations. Ajax and Pickering are also unregulated. Vaughan has a licensing framework that allows STRs with registration. If you have flexibility on where you buy or convert an investment property, these are the nearby legal paths.
What’s not legal: standard Airbnb-style stays under 28 days at a Markham property, including a basement suite, a condo, or your principal residence.
What’s Probably Next
The staff report recommended a full zoning amendment AND a licensing by-law as a package. Council rejected the package. That doesn’t permanently kill the idea. Future councils can revisit it. Provincial STR legislation (which has been discussed but not enacted) could also override municipal positions. For now, plan around the prohibition.
If MAT (Municipal Accommodation Tax) collection at the regional or provincial level changes the political math, that could shift things. The staff report explicitly noted: “Unlike hotels, unlicensed short term rental accommodation is not currently subject to the remittance of the Municipal Accommodation Tax.”
Pivoting to Mid Term in Markham
If you’ve been operating a short term rental in Markham and were hoping the licensing framework would legitimize what you’re doing, that path is closed for now. The pivot to 28+ day rentals is straightforward operationally:
- Refit your minimum stay setting on Airbnb or VRBO to 28 nights
- Update your listing copy to target relocations, contractors, and corporate stays
- Adjust your pricing model from nightly to monthly
- Review your insurance to confirm the policy covers furnished mid term occupancy
For a Markham property near the Highway 7 tech corridor, Markham Centre, or close to Markham Stouffville Hospital, mid term rates of $4,000 to $7,000 per month are realistic for a well presented one or two bedroom unit, depending on furnishings, parking, and proximity. Cornell and Unionville pull strong family demand for transition stays.
Need Help Pivoting?
Nurture manages mid term and corporate housing stays across the GTA. We offer competitive management fees on mid term rentals (28+ nights) in cities where short term rentals aren’t permitted, including Markham. No long contracts, no setup fees, full service from listing photos through guest communication and turnover. Contact us for a property-specific quote.
If you have a Markham property and you’re trying to figure out whether mid term rentals will pencil out, give us a call at (647) 957-8956 or book a free rental estimate. We’ll pull comparable mid term comps for your specific neighbourhood and tell you honestly what the unit can earn.
Whatever you do, don’t take “council rejected the regulation plan” to mean “Markham is now wide open for Airbnb.” It isn’t. The 2018 prohibition is still the operative rule, and the April 2026 vote reaffirmed it.