Nanaimo
Airbnb management in Nanaimo, around the home you live in
If Nanaimo is home and you want guests to stay while you travel, or in rooms you set aside, tell bnbHost how you want to host. We consider each management enquiry property by property, starting with the City licence, the space and the dates you have in mind.
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If Nanaimo is home and you want guests to stay while you travel, or in rooms you set aside, tell bnbHost how you want to host. We consider each management enquiry property by property, starting with the City licence, the space and the dates you have in mind.
A City licence for the home you live in
The City of Nanaimo requires a business licence, renewed every year, before you offer stays of fewer than 30 consecutive days. Its definition covers accommodation in the operator's primary residence, secondary suite or carriage house. The City's operator guide treats a primary residence as the place you live more than anywhere else, for at least eight months of the calendar year.
You can offer the whole home while you are away, up to a cumulative four months in a calendar year. The provincial principal-residence requirement applies in Nanaimo too, and each short-term rental unit needs its own provincial registration number.
Limits the City sets
- Guests and bedrooms. No more than four adult guests, and no more than two bedrooms when the rental is inside the main dwelling. The limit counts guests aged 19 or older; children are not counted.
- Per property. The guide allows one short-term rental per property.
- Permitted suites only. A secondary suite installed without a building permit is not suitable as a short-term rental.
- Parking on site. The application includes a parking plan. Guest parking stays on the property, never on the street, and the City's parking table adds a space for each guest booking.
- Numbers in every listing. Each listing shows your provincial registration number and your City business licence.
Strata homes and tenants
In a strata, short-term rentals are possible only where the strata bylaws allow them, and the City asks for a Strata Authorization Form signed by the strata president or council. A strata can limit or ban short-term rentals by a three-quarter vote of owners. A tenant needs the landlord's written consent; the City's guide describes the alternatives it will consider when that is not possible.
The details that make a Nanaimo stay work
- Ferry and floatplane arrivals. Guests may come through Departure Bay or Duke Point, by foot-passenger ferry to downtown, by seaplane or through Nanaimo Airport, 18 km south of downtown. Tell guests which terminal suits your address, and note that vehicles sailing from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay must book and pay in advance, while foot passengers and cyclists can sail with or without a booking.
- Parking that matches your plan. Show guests the spaces in your approved parking plan.
- House rules your neighbours will recognise. The City expects operators to make guests aware of its noise, animal and parking bylaws. Put them in the house rules and the welcome book.
- A contact at all hours. The City's guide recommends posting 24-hour emergency contact information. Agree who answers before the first guest arrives.
One company for the hosting work
Our management service covers booking management, listing SEO management, price optimization, professional photography, welcome book, cleaning and laundry, property maintenance, key exchange management and licensing support. We look at each home with our legal team, and the review confirms which arrangements can be delivered for your address, including cleaning and access. Explore the management service.
Your fee and agreement
The management fee is 22% per booking, with property insurance included. The calculation, any additional costs, insurance details and owner-use arrangements belong in your written management agreement. We walk through them in the free property review; no income or booking level is guaranteed. See how the fee works.
Bring these to your free review
Your address, whether the home is your primary residence, the space you want to host (rooms, the whole home while you are away, or a permitted suite), your proposed dates, any existing City licence or provincial registration, and your strata or landlord position. Avoid sending identity documents in the first message. We will discuss whether the home can be accepted and what needs to happen first.
For the provincial picture, read our BC short-term rental guide, and take questions to ask a property manager into any conversation.
Local sources checked 12 November 2026: City of Nanaimo short-term rentals; Short-Term Rental Operator's Guide; Province of BC principal-residence requirement; provincial host registration; strata short-term rental bylaws. General information, not a property-specific permission decision.