Invermere stands out among BC resort towns because you can still buy a house, put it on Airbnb, and run it as a full-time short-term rental without having to live there. This is by design. Instead of following Vancouver’s principal-residence ban, the District created its own permitting system. Today, that system runs on two 2025-numbered bylaws that most online guides haven’t covered yet.
What Are Invermere’s Airbnb Rules? (2026 Overview)
All short-term rentals in Invermere, which means any stay under 28 days, must have an annual business licence. Whether you also need a Temporary Use Permit depends on your property’s zoning. The current rules are in two bylaws: Business Licencing Bylaw No. 1683 and Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw No. 1682. These replaced the 2023/2024 rules under Bylaw No. 1647 to simplify fees and administration.
There’s an important detail in Bylaw 1683 that many guides overlook: STR business licences can’t be transferred. If you sell your property, the new owner has to apply for a new licence from scratch. You can’t buy a home solely for its existing STR licence, as you might in other BC resort towns.
Do You Need a Business Licence and a TUP?
Everyone needs a business licence. Whether you also need a TUP depends on your property’s zoning:
If your property is in a commercial or tourist zone (C-1, C-2, CT-1, or RES), you only need a business licence because short-term rentals are already allowed there. If your property is in a single-family or low-density residential zone (R-1, R-2, R-3, RM-1, RM-2), you can’t operate an STR without a TUP.
A TUP lasts for up to three years and can be renewed once for another three years. After that, you have to start over or apply for a zoning change. The District also limits each owner to one active licence or TUP, so you can’t build a small STR portfolio here like you might in other markets.
Occupancy, Bedroom, and Parking Rules Explained
The usual limit is eight guests, four bedrooms, and two people per bedroom. If you want to host more than eight guests, you need approval from the Town Council, not just staff. The Council’s decisions have varied. For example, at a meeting on September 9, 2024, four properties requested exceptions: the Taynton Drive property was approved for 10 guests on a 3-2 vote, with councillors split over whether the neighbourhood’s “resort feel” justified an exception. A 4th Street property was capped at 10 instead of the 12 requested. Two others were approved for 9 guests and 8 guests, the latter allowing four children to share bunk beds in a single room.
Parking rules are straightforward: you need one off-street parking spot for one to four guests, and two spots for five to eight guests. Guests can’t use street parking. Outdoor pools aren’t allowed at STRs unless you get special TUP approval.
Noise Monitoring, Responsible Person, and Guest Registry Requirements
Invermere’s rules are stricter than most other BC municipalities in this area, and many competitor guides don’t cover these details well.
Each unit must have an exterior noise monitoring system that measures decibel levels, not conversations, and alerts the host if noise goes over the limit. You need to show proof of installation when you first apply and at every renewal.
If you don’t live at the property, you must name a Responsible Person who is available at all times. If there’s a complaint about noise, parking, garbage, or guest behaviour, this person must respond within 30 minutes and, if needed, visit the property in person within another 30 minutes. This is a strict licensing rule, not just a suggestion.
To renew your licence, you must complete an Annual Self-Evaluation Safety Audit and Attestation, a signed document confirming that your property continues to meet fire, health, and safety standards. You also need to keep a written guest registry for the past 12 months, ready to show the Licence Inspector if asked.
How to Apply: Step-by-Step Licensing Process and Timeline
Your application must include a signed licence form (from all registered owners), proof you own the property, strata approval if needed, detailed floor and fire safety plans, a parking plan, proof of noise monitor installation, and the annual safety attestation. Staff send complete applications to the Fire Inspector and Building Official for review. Most simple applications are approved in a few weeks, but TUP applications take longer because they need public notice and Council approval.
Before you apply, remember that regular homeowner insurance doesn’t cover commercial short-term rentals, and Airbnb’s AirCover doesn’t fill all the gaps. Make sure your insurance policy clearly covers STR use before you list your property.
Fines and Enforcement: What Happens if You Break the Rules
Invermere works with Granicus, a compliance company that checks listing sites and matches them to the District’s licence records. Mayor Al Miller explained that if you break the rules for the first time, you get a warning letter. If you don’t fix the problem, you’ll be fined $500 per day, and each day counts as a separate offence. That adds up to $3,500 per week and between $14,000 and $15,500 per month, depending on the month. If you keep breaking the rules, you could also be taken to provincial court.
Taxes on Airbnb Income in Invermere (GST, PST, MRDT)
STR income in Invermere is taxed at a total of 16%: 8% Provincial Sales Tax, 5% federal GST, and 3% Municipal and Regional District Tax. The MRDT rate here is higher than the provincial default, having increased from 2% to 3% for the Invermere-Panorama area on February 1, 2024. This rate applies only in this area. If your property makes less than $2,500 in gross revenue over 12 months, you don’t have to register for PST or MRDT. If you only use a platform like Airbnb, it handles tax collection for you.
All BC hosts, including those in Invermere, must show a provincial STR registration number on every listing. The provincial registry began on January 20, 2025, and enforcement, including the removal of unregistered listings, was phased in through June 2025. This requirement is in addition to the municipal business licence.
2026 Regulatory Review: What May Change Next
Invermere ran its second formal STR review in May 2026, updating the picture from the original June 2025 assessment. The count has grown modestly: 211 licensed STRs, up from 191 a year earlier. Of those, 128 (about 60%) operate in areas already zoned for tourist accommodation, and 82 (40%) needed a TUP because they sit in residential zones.
The more telling number might be the number of complaints. Since the Granicus hotline launched in 2024, the District has logged only 52 STR-related complaints total, and just eight of those came in the eleven months following the June 2025 review. Two involved the same property, a noise complaint in the Wilder subdivision, and about half involved TUP-zoned properties. Staff described this as low reporting that may understate real issues rather than reflect their absence. At the May 12, 2026 council meeting, Councillor Gerry Taft raised the open question of whether residents simply don’t know where to direct complaints. Mayor Al Miller’s read: “Overall, it’s gone reasonably well.”
The clustering concern flagged in the original 2025 review, concentration in the Wilder subdivision and near Fieldstone Glen in Central Invermere, still hasn’t produced a formal cap or minimum-distance rule. And the underlying geography hasn’t shifted: most of Invermere’s STRs still sit in strata developments like Lake Windermere Pointe, which planners continue to view favourably since condo-based rentals generate far fewer complaints than scattered single-family units.
Invermere remains exempt from the province’s principal-residence requirement (population under 10,000, designated resort municipality), and nothing in the 2026 review points to an imminent change there. But council has left that door open before, so anyone buying specifically for STR use should treat the exemption as a current condition, not a guarantee.
Ready to List Compliantly?
If you get your licence, zoning, and permits right the first time, you’ll avoid the $500-a-day fines mentioned earlier. Book a free call with the Nomadics team for Invermere Airbnb management, and we’ll help you review your property’s zoning, occupancy limits, and TUP requirements before you start hosting.
Sources
- District of Invermere, Business Licencing Bylaw No. 1683, 2025
- District of Invermere, Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw No. 1682, 2025
- District of Invermere, Business Licencing Bylaw No. 1647, 2023
- Columbia Valley Pioneer, “Invermere approves short-term rental permits,” Sept. 19, 2024
- Columbia Valley Pioneer, “STR rules enforcement to begin soon in Invermere,” Oct. 17, 2024
- Columbia Valley Pioneer, “Short-term rental assessment completed,” Dec. 5, 2024
- Columbia Valley Pioneer, “Invermere begins review on STR rules,” June 5, 2025
- Columbia Valley Pioneer, “Update shows few STR complaints,” May 21, 2026
- Kenway Mack Slusarchuk Stewart LLP, “Tax Alert: Rate Change for the BC Municipal and Regional District Tax,” Jan. 5, 2024
- Government of British Columbia, “Short-term rental registry will deliver more homes, ensure hosts follow rules,” news release, Jan. 20, 2025
- Destination BC, “Province Moving Forward with Short-Term Rental Registry,” May 2025 update
