Short-term rentals in Ramara: how the rules compare
Last verified June 14, 2026 · Every claim links to its source · Jump to sources
The short version
Ramara licenses short-term rentals (stays under 28 days) at $3,000/year, caps occupancy at 8 people, and won't grant a new licence within 300 m of an existing one. Compared to other Ontario cottage-country townships, Ramara's fee is the highest, its occupancy cap is tighter than the norm, and its metres-based separation rule appears unique. Ramara also does not levy the Municipal Accommodation Tax that many tourism-heavy peers use to raise visitor-funded revenue. This brief is descriptive — it shows where Ramara sits, not what it should do.
What Ramara requires
Under Ramara's by-laws (2020.11 / 2021.87), anyone renting a property for stays under 28 days must hold a licence ($3,000/year), keep occupancy to a maximum of 8 people, and meet the rule that a new licence won't be granted within 300 m of an existing licensed short-term rental. [Township of Ramara Bylaws 2020.11 and 2021.87 — short-term rental licensing.]
How the licence fee compares
Annual licence fee. Some peers use tiered principal-residence vs whole-home pricing (e.g. Kawartha Lakes $300 hosted / $1,500 un-hosted; Huntsville $750–$1,000). 2026, municipal sources.
Occupancy and separation
Ramara's flat maximum of 8 is tighter than the norm: most peers use "2 persons per bedroom" up to about 10 (Tiny, Kawartha Lakes, Muskoka Lakes, Blue Mountains). Ramara's 300 m separation rule appears unique — no researched municipality was confirmed to use a metres-based distance between rentals. The comparable lever elsewhere is an absolute cap on total licences (Tiny 300, Huntsville 250, Bracebridge ~4% of dwellings) or zoning restriction (Oro-Medonte, Wasaga Beach, Blue Mountains; Clearview effectively prohibits them). [Municipal short-term-rental pages, 2026.]
How communities enforce the rules
Enforcement tools are widespread: demerit-point / strike systems (Kawartha Lakes 7 points = suspension, 15 = revoked; Huntsville 3 complaints in 2 years = revoked), a "responsible person" who must answer complaints (often within an hour), 24/7 hotlines, and third-party monitoring software to find unlicensed units. Fines for operating unlicensed run high (Prince Edward County $10,000 first offence). Compliance is a challenge everywhere — Wasaga Beach licenses about 170 units but a monitoring vendor found 595–1,000+ operating; Kawartha Lakes found about half of verified addresses unlicensed. [Kawartha Lakes; Huntsville; Wasaga Beach; Prince Edward County.]
The revenue tool Ramara isn't using
Under the Municipal Act (s.400.1) and O. Reg. 435/17, municipalities can levy a Municipal Accommodation Tax (commonly 4%) on hotels, B&Bs and short-term rentals; at least half of net revenue must go to a tourism entity, and visitors pay it, not residents. Tourism-heavy peers use it. No MAT was found for Ramara. Whether to adopt one is a council decision with trade-offs; the chart shows what some peers raise:
Different years and tourism volumes, so not directly comparable; visitors pay the MAT, not residents. Ramara levies no MAT. Sources: municipal MAT pages.
The legal lesson, for any future change
Ontario has no province-wide short-term-rental law; municipalities regulate through business licensing (Municipal Act s.151) plus zoning. Courts uphold reasonable licensing but strike "bans by stealth." Tiny's licensing plus 300-unit cap was upheld in 2025 because zoning still permitted rentals and licensing managed them; Oro-Medonte's by-law was struck down as poor planning (2022, upheld on appeal 2024); Toronto's principal-residence rule was upheld in 2019. Since January 2024, federally, short-term-rental expenses aren't tax-deductible where operators are non-compliant. [SV Law; WeirFoulds; FOCA; court decisions as cited.]
Sources
Township of Ramara short-term rental Bylaws 2020.11 / 2021.87; short-term-rental program pages for Blue Mountains, Tiny, Bracebridge, Tay, Muskoka Lakes, Huntsville, Gravenhurst, Kawartha Lakes, Georgina, Wasaga Beach, Oro-Medonte and Prince Edward County; O. Reg. 435/17 (Municipal Accommodation Tax) and Municipal Act, 2001 (ss.151, 400.1); municipal MAT pages (The Blue Mountains, Huntsville, Prince Edward County, Wasaga Beach, Lake of Bays); SV Law and WeirFoulds municipal-law commentary; Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Associations (FOCA); court decisions on Tiny (2025 ONSC 1578), Oro-Medonte (2022, upheld 2024) and Toronto (LPAT 2019).