Notice of Public Meeting for Short-Term Rental Licensing Program & By-law Review

The Municipality of Highlands East will be holding a Public Meeting to receive input regarding the municipality’s Short-Term Rental Licensing Program and By-law. 

Meeting details

Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: 2249 Loop Road, Lloyd Watson Centre, Wilberforce

This will be a hybrid meeting. A livestream will be available for viewing on Youtube and will be linked from the website on the day of the meeting. The public is also welcome to attend in person. 

Purpose and effect

The purpose of this meeting is to receive input from stakeholders, visitors, residents, and licensed operators of short-term rentals in Highlands East on the existing program including requirements of the program, compliance expectations, and the overall intent of the by-law.

Interested parties are invited to share their experiences with the program, any issues or concerns they have encountered with the current Short-Term Rental Licensing Program and any suggestions or proposed improvements they wish to put forward for Council’s consideration.

How to provide comment

Members of the public who wish to provide comments at the public meeting must register and provide their written comments in advance before 4:00 p.m. on March 23, 2026 by e-mailing str@highlandseast.ca.

Members of the public who cannot attend but wish to provide written comments to be considered by Council at the public meeting should submit their comments to str@highlandseast.ca before 4:00 p.m. on March 23, 2026.

All submitted comments will be incorporated into the public record and provided to Council for their consideration of any potential by-law or program revisions.

An STR Program Review Survey will be published in the coming days to provide an additional method of feedback and data collection on the program.

Related documents

A copy of the current by-law and related Short Term Rental by-laws can be viewed on our CivicWeb portal.

View STR By-law

About the Public Meeting

The Municipality of Highlands East will be conducting the meeting virtually as part of a ‘hybrid’ approach to Council meeting procedures. There are three reasons why the Municipality uses this approach:

1. Many interested parties or licensed operators are seasonal residents who may not be able to attend in person. The virtual format allows participants to see and hear the meeting proceedings and contribute from wherever they may be located.
2. The Lloyd Watson Community Centre does not have an audio-visual set up conducive to larger scale Council meetings.
3. The meeting has been scheduled during Council’s optional meeting date. Holding meetings via Zoom is one way to ensure that individuals who wish to participate can do so with minimal interruptions to their workdays, if their work permits them to access a computer.

All interested parties, licensed operators, visitors, and stakeholders are encouraged to attend virtually or in-person and provide written submissions.