With hotels in and around Regina virtually sold out, many residents had to turn to other means of accommodation during Gray Cup week.
Airbnb and Vrbo were both options in the city and surrounding area for those who were unable to secure a hotel room, some of which were booked solid a year in advance.
The City of Regina was encouraging local residents to consider applying for a short-term license to rent their property to Gray Cup fans coming in from across Canada.
According to an email from the city, there are currently 299 short-term accommodations licensed, with 251 of those being new licenses issued in 2022 and 48 renewed from 2021.
The city said that since Oct. 15, 31 licenses were issued, but they could not determine if it was specifically due to the Gray Cup festivities since the licenses were issued on annual terms.
The city also said that as of Nov. 21, 23 postings were revoked over the previous 30 days after failing to obtain a license.
Since May 2021, the City of Regina has required that property owners obtain a short-term accommodation license if they would like to set up their main or secondary residence as a rental.
In a release, the city said that a short-term license is required when residents intend to rent out their property for less than 30 days.
A license fee for a principal residence is $100 per year. A secondary property will cost $300 for a year.
An application form must first be completed.
Applications take a few days to process, the city said.
Most properties are then advertised on popular online marketplaces like Airbnb and Vrbo.
According to Airbnb, in 2021 the typical host in Regina earned an average of more than $7,600 on the platform.
The average earned last year represents more than a month’s pay for the median Canadian household, according to Airbnb.
Data for the 2022 Gray Cup in Regina is still being compiled, but Airbnb said for the 2021 Gray Cup in Hamilton, Ont. hosts collected over $160,000 for nights booked between Dec. 10 and 12.
