🎯 STRisker: Bulletin - Brockville, Canada
City proposes tax lien powers and mandatory audits to close compliance gaps in its 6% accommodation tax program
Brockville Eyes Tougher MAT Enforcement as STR Growth Tests Eight-Year-Old Bylaw
Photo from Brockville Website
"Based on a recommendation from Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP, the insertion of stronger enforcement provisions will ensure fairness for all and the ability to collect the tax."
- Staff Report, Prepared By Kelly Brintnell, Tourism Advisor
The Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) bylaw in the City of Brockville which is first adopted in 2018 under the authority of Ontario Regulation 435/17 is being considered to be replaced with a strengthened version that significantly expands the city's ability to administer, audit, and enforce compliance across all accommodation providers operating within its limits. The Brockville General Committee was scheduled to consider a staff report and recommendation at its June 16 meeting as part of a broader wave of MAT updates across Ontario prompted by the growth of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
The MAT was raised from 4% to 6% in 2024 and applies to overnight stays at hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and certain short-term rental accommodations with the city reportedly collected $3.1 million through the program between 2018 and 2025. That revenue record makes the compliance gap more pointed: city officials say the existing bylaw lacks the tools needed to ensure all operators are participating on equal terms, a concern that legal advisers at Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP formally raised in recommending stronger provisions to "ensure fairness for all and the ability to collect the tax."
The proposed bylaw's most significant addition is a lien mechanism under a new section titled "Municipal Assessment Where Failure to Remit" which would allow the city to deem any unpaid MAT, penalties, and interest as in arrears and transfer them to the tax collector's roll as a charge against the land itself and would give the municipality a secured claim on the property in the same way it pursues overdue municipal property taxes. That is a materially stronger remedy than what most smaller Ontario municipalities have sought under the latitude afforded by the Municipal Act, 2001.
Under the existing bylaw, all accommodation providers must display the MAT as a separate line item on every invoice, collect it at the time of booking, and remit it to the city by the last day of each month for the prior month's collections while the operators whose annual gross sales fall below $65,000 permitted to remit quarterly instead. The proposed bylaw preserves those obligations while adding new assessment powers and audit requirements. The 2024 exemption for traditional bed and breakfast establishments is also expected to be retained, though the staff report prepared by Tourism Advisor Kelly Brintnell of Brockville Tourism does not flag any new exceptions.
⦾ Tax rate: 6% on all qualifying overnight accommodation (raised from 4% in 2024)
⦾ Who must collect: Hotels, motels, and STR providers within Brockville city limits; traditional B&Bs are currently exempt
⦾ Remittance schedule: Monthly for most operators; quarterly for those with gross sales under $65,000 per year
⦾ Key change proposed: Unpaid MAT and assessed penalties to be treated as a lien on property and collected via the municipal tax roll, equivalent to property tax arrears
⦾ New enforcement tools: Audit and inspection powers; mandatory record-keeping and regular reporting; penalties for non-remittance
⦾ Platform remittance: No confirmed platform-remittance agreement in Brockville; operators bear primary responsibility. Airbnb does not collect or remit MAT on behalf of hosts in most Ontario municipalities
⦾ Regulatory basis: Ontario Regulation 435/17 under the Municipal Act, 2001
⦾ Vote: General Committee consideration June 16, 2026; full council approval required before the replacement bylaw takes effect
Brockville's Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT)
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