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By Liam Verster

Call for Actionable Data

Vernon wants province to provide data on short term rental, vacancy tax impacts

Jan 26, 2026 | 5:18 PM

The City of Vernon is calling on the province to provide data on the impacts its housing policies are having.

At the regular meeting Monday, Jan. 26, Councillor Kari Gares proposed two resolutions relating to the speculation and vacancy tax (SVT) and to the short term rental (STR) regulations to be brought forward during the annual Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) conference.

The resolutions would call on the province to provide municipal-specific data about the policies and their impacts on housing availability and affordability, so that the local governments can make informed decisions relating to housing strategies.

“I know right now there are some communities that are having some issues with the short-term rental legislation and how it’s impacted their economy on a much broader scale, maybe from a tourism perspective or from an economic development perspective, and this [first resolution] is really just saying we need to have the data so that we can make sure that the information that we’re getting or how we’re doing long-range planning is consistent with that data,” Gares explained at the council meeting.

“[The resolution] is not saying ‘No, we don’t want the legislation.’ It’s just saying it’s imperative that we actually have the data, because without the data how do we know that [the policy is] actually doing what it’s intended to do.”

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The city councillor made similar claims about the SVT and how municipalities need the data to make informed decisions in the city planning processes.

Upon reviewing the proposed resolutions council voted unanimously in favour of bringing them forward at the SILGA conference. Councillors Brian Quiring and Kelly Fehr were not in attendance for Monday’s meeting.

If supported at SILGA, the resolutions would be brought forward at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference for further discussion. If supported there it would be brought before the province for consideration.

Speaking with Vernon Matters following Monday’s meeting, Mayor Victor Cumming said it was important for municipalities to have information about the impacts of housing policies.

“It’s important for us to know whether this is helping or hindering, we don’t know that today as we don’t have the data that we need,” Cumming said.

“[Our request would for the data] to be by neighbourhood, or maybe even by direct address. If we get that kind of data, then we can begin to see whether it makes any sense to us, and therefore we can request the province maybe to adjust the policy.”

A motion was also passed at Monday’s meeting have all of City Council attend the SILGA conference, which will be held in Revelstoke April 29 through May 2.