Is Airbnb Profitable in Calgary? 2026 Data & Guide

Yes, but it depends on how you manage your property.

Calgary Airbnb hosts typically earn between CA$18,671 and CA$34,597 per year, depending on the data source and the property’s management. AirROI’s 2026 data (April 2025 to March 2026) show an average of $18,671, a 48.1% occupancy rate, and a nightly rate of $137. Airbtics, which looks at full-time listings, reports a higher median of CA$34,597 and a 69% occupancy rate. This range shows that your earnings depend a lot on how actively you manage your Airbnb.

The truth is, Calgary ranks in the lower half of Canadian markets for short-term rental returns. This doesn’t mean you should avoid it, but you should have realistic expectations. A well-managed, properly priced Beltline one-bedroom that follows the rules can do much better than average. On the other hand, a suburban three-bedroom with poor pricing and no business licence can lose money, especially if the CRA steps in.

Investors who succeed in Calgary treat Airbnb as a business. Those who see it as passive income often don’t realize how much a regular long-term lease could earn instead.

Calgary Airbnb Market Data: Revenue, Occupancy, and ADR

In 2026, Calgary has about 3,946 active short-term rental listings, nearly double last year’s number. Even with this significant increase, both revenue and nightly rates have risen, indicating that demand from travellers remains strong. For new hosts, this means the market isn’t full yet, but competition is growing quickly.

Here’s what the numbers look like across performance tiers:

The average RevPAR (Revenue per Available Rental night) in Calgary is $71. This number combines occupancy and nightly rates, and it highlights the big difference between top-performing listings and the rest.

If you’re looking at a property as an investment, RevPAR is the key number to watch. Gross revenue shows your maximum potential, but RevPAR shows how well you’re turning available nights into real income. With a $71 RevPAR, you earn $71 on average for every night your property is available, booked or not. The best hosts can raise this number above $200 by choosing the right neighbourhood, using dynamic pricing, and maintaining high occupancy.

Here’s a key point: during peak months, the top listings can earn $3,977 per month, with 63.7% occupancy and nightly rates up to $197. In January, those same listings might earn only $1,508 at 38.8% occupancy. Handling these seasonal ups and downs is the main challenge for Calgary hosts.

How Calgary Compares to Canmore, and Other Alberta Markets

Calgary is an urban market that relies on events. This is very different from Alberta’s mountain towns.

Banff and Canmore attract international tourists who book earlier, stay longer, and pay much higher rates than Calgary guests. In Calgary, guests book about 36 days in advance, while in Canmore, peak-season ski bookings are often made months in advance. This difference in booking habits changes how you should set your prices.

What Calgary does offer that Canmore and Banff cannot?

You can own an investment property here and legally operate a short-term rental without living in it. Calgary distinguishes between primary and non-primary residence licences, with the latter required for investor-owned properties. Vancouver and Toronto closed the door on investor-owned STRs years ago by restricting operations to an operator’s principal residence. Calgary hasn’t, and that regulatory gap makes it one of the few major Canadian cities where non-resident STR investment is a viable commercial strategy.

The trade-off is that urban markets like Calgary rely more on events and business travel than on steady leisure tourism. Calgary has the Stampede and a strong oil and gas sector, but it doesn’t have the mountains.

The Best Neighbourhoods for Airbnb Profitability in Calgary

Location is one of the biggest factors in your results. A well-placed inner-city listing can earn much more than the city average.

Eau Claire leads Calgary’s neighbourhoods in annual Airbnb revenue, with CA$73,821, a 70% occupancy rate, and an average daily rate of CA$284. Beltline follows with CA$51,929 in annual revenue, 81% occupancy, and a CA$171 ADR. Bridgeland-Riverside reports CA$48,139 in annual revenue, with 76% occupancy and a CA$169 ADR.

Eau Claire

Eau Claire is next to Prince’s Island Park and the Bow River pathways. Listings here attract leisure travellers, business executives, and guests who stay longer and are willing to pay much more for the location. The $284 nightly rate is over twice the city average.

Beltline

Beltline is Calgary’s busiest urban area. Streets like 17th Avenue have boutique shops, cafes, and nightlife for both tourists and locals. The 81% occupancy rate here is outstanding for a city market and shows how popular this area is year-round. The best listings in Beltline can earn $3,700 per month during busy event seasons.

Bridgeland

Bridgeland-Riverside is becoming more popular with business travellers and families. It’s close to downtown for business guests, but still has a neighbourhood feel that leads to better reviews. Over time, these reviews help listings rank higher in search results.

Kensginton

Kensington attracts a different group of guests, like independent travellers, weekend visitors from Edmonton, and people who want easy access to the Bow River pathways and a more residential, boutique feel. While it doesn’t have as many bookings as Beltline, guests here often leave better reviews and come back more often.

Mid-range homes in these four neighbourhoods often earn 2 to 4 times the city average. For example, a mid-range one-bedroom near the airport in northeast Calgary will yield very different results than a one-bedroom in Beltline, even if their nightly rates seem similar. Here’s where the money goes:

• Furnishing: A professionally furnished one-bedroom unit typically costs CA$10,000 to $20,000 upfront. This is a sunk cost you begin recovering from day one of operations
• Professional management: If you’re using an Airbnb property management company (and in Calgary’s compliance-heavy environment, many investors do), expect fees of 20% to 25% of net revenue, which works out to roughly 16% of gross revenue. On a listing earning $34,000 gross, that’s approximately $5,440 in management fees.
• Cleaning and turnover: With frequent guest changeovers, professional cleaning costs can reach $4,800 annually for a one-bedroom. Longer minimum stays during peak season meaningfully reduce this.
• Utilities: As the host, you cover the cost of gas, electricity, water, and high-speed internet year-round. Budget approximately $2,400 annually for a one-bedroom unit.
• Licensing and inspection: Non-primary residence licence fees include a $510 new-application fee, a $260 annual renewal fee, and a mandatory fire-inspection fee of $114. That’s roughly $624 in year one.
• Insurance: Calgary requires proof of insurance covering home sharing or short-term rentals, with a minimum liability of $2 million, issued by a registered Alberta insurer.

At the citywide median gross revenue of $18,671, a property can net $10,000 to $13,000 if you manage it yourself, or $8,500 to $10,500 if you use a property manager. Read our full breakdown of the best neighbourhoods in Calgary for Airbnb

Calgary STR Regulations in 2026: Licences, Fees, and the Moratorium Rule

Calgary City Council unanimously approved amendments to its Business Licence Bylaw in December 2024, with changes taking effect April 1, 2025. These weren’t minor adjustments. The framework shifted the entire regulatory structure of how short-term rentals are classified and licensed.

Two licence classes now apply:

Properties are classified based on whether the STR is operated from a primary or non-primary residence, replacing the older room-count model. Primary residence licences apply to hosts who operate within their own home. Non-primary residence licences are required for investor-owned or secondary properties. Read our full breakdown of short-term rental rules in Calgary

The moratorium rule:

If Calgary’s purpose-built rental vacancy rate falls below 2.5%, the City will pause new applications for non-primary residence licences. Existing licences can still be renewed, and primary residence applications remain unaffected.

The moratorium will not take effect in 2025. Calgary’s current vacancy rate sits at 4.8%, well above the 2.5% threshold. Based on CMHC projections showing ongoing apartment construction will deliver thousands of new units through 2026, the moratorium trigger remains inactive for now. But it’s a live risk. If vacancy tightens, new non-primary licence applications stop, and anyone holding an existing licence gains a meaningful competitive advantage.

The mid-term rental expansion:

Short-term rentals are now defined as stays of up to 180 consecutive days, expanded from the previous 30-day limit. As a result, more mid-term furnished rentals now fall under STR licensing requirements.

This expansion cuts both ways. Hosts who were previously operating furnished corporate rentals outside the licensing system must now hold a valid licence. But it also opens a new strategy for investors: targeting 31- to 90-day stays for contract workers, medical professionals, and relocating executives, without entering the much more regulated long-term tenancy framework governed by Alberta’s Residential Tenancies Act.

Fire and safety requirements:

Every licensed property must pass mandatory inspections by the Calgary Fire Department. Core requirements include egress windows in every rented bedroom, a certified 5-lb ABC fire extinguisher mounted in accordance with specific height guidelines, and a detailed single-page fire safety plan for each floor that shows exit paths, alarm locations, and emergency contacts.

Condo owners should verify their building’s bylaws directly. Applicants must comply with their condominium’s bylaws, although the City no longer requires this as of April 1, 2025. Some condo boards still impose significant fines for unauthorized STR operations, entirely independent of the city’s licensing system.

Tax Obligations for Calgary Airbnb Hosts: CRA, GST, and Deduction Rules

This section is more important than many hosts think. Federal tax rules changed in 2024, and failing to comply can have serious consequences.

CRA Section 67.7: The deduction denial rule

On June 20, 2024, Bill C-69 received Royal Assent, introducing Section 67.7 to the Income Tax Act. Subsection 67.7(2) denies the deduction of expenses for short-term rentals that fail to comply with applicable provincial or municipal laws, with retroactive effect to expenses incurred after 2023.

What this means in practice: if you operate without a valid Calgary business licence for any portion of a tax year, the CRA denies your expense deductions proportionally for those days. Mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, cleaning costs, management fees, platform commissions, and property tax. All of it, prorated to the days you were non-compliant.

The formula is simple: total expenses multiplied by the number of non-compliant days, divided by the total days the property was available as a short-term rental that year. A $60,000 expense pool with 181 non-compliant days over a 365-day rental period yields $29,753 within denied deductions. In Alberta, where combined marginal rates for a moderate-income investor sit near 36%, that denial can convert an apparent profit into a tax loss.

Under subsection 67.7(4), the CRA can assess and reassess tax, interest, and penalties under this rule at any time. There is no statutory time limit, meaning non-compliance in past years remains permanently exposed to audit.

Starting in 2025, there will be no transitional relief. Compliance is judged day by day. Every day your listing is active without a valid business licence is a day you cannot deduct the associated expenses.

Alberta Tourism Levy

Alberta’s tourism levy applies to stays of 28 consecutive days or less. The rate increased from 4% to 6% on April 1, 2026 — hosts must register for a Tourism Levy Registration Certificate through Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, collect the current 6% from guests, and remit it quarterly.

Federal GST

If your gross STR revenue exceeds CA$30,000 in any 12 months, GST registration becomes mandatory. You collect 5% from guests and remit it to the CRA. For a median Calgary listing earning $18,671 annually, this threshold may not apply. For a top-performing Eau Claire property earning $73,000+, it absolutely does.

Before you file your first return, work with a Canadian accountant who knows short-term rental tax rules. The rules are detailed, the penalties can be high, and the CRA can audit past years at any time using digital records from the platforms.

There isn’t a single simple answer to this comparison, but the data provides a clear picture to help you decide. A downtown Calgary condo available for long-term lease generates approximately $1,782 per month, or $21,384 annually. The comparison below models a higher-performing Airbnb scenario (a well-located inner-city unit earning $2,050 to $2,900 per month gross, or $24,600 to $34,800 annually) to give a fair like-for-like comparison against a long-term lease at the same rent level. Net profit figures here will differ from the citywide median scenario described earlier.

Short-term rentals seem to offer higher gross income. But here’s how the numbers compare after expenses:

For most properties, long-term rentals generate more net income and are much simpler to manage. However, for well-located, actively managed inner-city properties, the numbers change. A Beltline listing with good pricing and hands-on management can net $25,000 to $35,000, much more than a long-term tenant would pay. 

Calgary investors should also consider the mid-term rental model, which became clearer with the April 2025 bylaw changes. Renting for 31 to 90 days to contractors, medical staff, or executives can bring in monthly income close to short-term rental levels, but with lower turnover costs, fewer winter vacancies, and without the tenant protections of long-term leases. For those wanting higher returns than traditional rentals but less work than nightly Airbnbs, this hybrid approach is a great but often overlooked option. It needs the same licence and compliance as short-term rentals, but the guests and booking patterns are different.

What Calgary Airbnb Properties Actually Earn Under Professional Management

The figures above reflect general market research across active Calgary listings. Here’s what our own managed properties in Calgary are actually seeing:

Airbnb can definitely be profitable in Calgary. The best-performing properties have three things in common: they’re in the inner city, they’re managed by someone who adjusts pricing regularly, and they’re fully compliant from the start. If you miss any of these, your profits can drop quickly.

Want to find out how much your property could make?

Book a call to get an estimate of your property’s yearly income, net margin, and payback period.

This information is for general guidance only and isn’t legal, financial, or tax advice. Short-term rental rules and CRA policies change often. Always check with a licensed Canadian accountant and confirm the latest bylaws with the City of Calgary before investing.

Sources

AirROI — Calgary 2026 STR Market Data (April 2025–March 2026)

Airbtics — Calgary Annual Airbnb Revenue 2026

City of Calgary Newsroom — Business Licence Bylaw Amendments, December 2024

City of Calgary Newsroom — April 2025 STR Bylaw Changes in Effect

City of Calgary — Short-Term Rental Rules and Regulations (official)

Lexology — Income Tax Act Now Denies Deductions for Non-Compliant Short-Term Rentals

Bennett Jones — Comply or Lose Your Tax Deductions

Boyer Boyer — CRA Section 67.7 Explained for Short-Term Rental Hosts

Airbtics — Calgary Neighbourhood Revenue Data 2025