Marketing Levy

A quick “Nil” report keeps your account in good standing.

Use the reporting link for your municipality:

• Municipality of the County of Inverness — ORHMA Levy Reporting Portal: https://inverness.orhma.com/
• Municipality of the County of Richmond — ORHMA Levy Reporting Portal: https://richmond.orhma.com/login
• Municipality of the County of Victoria — ORHMA Levy Reporting Portal: https://victoria.orhma.com/
• Town of Port Hawkesbury * — ORHMA Levy Reporting Portal: https://porthawkesbury.orhma.com/
• Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) — CheckIn Analytics: https://checkinanalytics.com/

Reports and remittances are due by the 15th of the following month for every municipality.

Add the 3% Levy to your rate for every eligible stay of 30 days or less before you calculate HST.

If you haven’t already, you must register under the Short-term Rentals Registration Act.

We can:

• Help you find the right reporting platform and get your account set up.
• Answer questions about how the Levy works, what’s exempt or how to show it on a receipt.
• Sort out account-related inquiries and issues.
• Connect you directly with your municipality or ORHMA if something isn’t working on their end.
• List your accommodation on visitcapebreton.com for free so visitors can find you.
• Keep you in the loop with industry newsletters, training and info sessions.

Your municipality is responsible for the bylaw.

A few stays don’t require the levy:

• Stays priced at $20 or less per night.
• Student residences at a post-secondary institution.
• Any stay longer than 30 consecutive days.
• A guest or their family member receiving hospital treatment in the municipality.
• A guest displaced from their home by a natural disaster (wind, flood, fire or similar event).

It depends on your municipality — see the reporting table above for your platform and login. File every month, even if you had no stays; a “Nil” report keeps your account in good standing.

Yes. The levy is added before HST, not after. The HST portion is remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency as usual and isn’t part of what you remit to your municipality.

Add the 3% Levy to the purchase price of every eligible stay. On every receipt, show:

• The total cost of the accommodation.
• The total marketing levy charged.
• That the levy is subject to HST.

Cleaning fees are part of the purchase price, so they’re subject to the Levy too. The Levy applies no matter how the guest pays — cash, card or instalments. It’s not charged on exempt items, like meals included in a package.

It applies to all fixed-roof tourism accommodations on Cape Breton Island that are required to register under the Short-term Rentals Registration Act. This includes apartments, condos, houses, cottages, cabins, hotels, motels, inns, resorts, bed and breakfasts, hostels, secondary suites (like a basement apartment) and unusual lodgings like yurts and domes.

By law, tourist accommodations must register with the Province if they offer stays of 28 days or less. This 28-day registration rule is separate from the 30-day Levy exemption above — a stay of 29 or 30 days still needs to be registered, even though it’s exempt from the Levy itself.

Yes. The Province of Nova Scotia has updated its regulations for fixed-roof accommodations. Check the Province’s website for the latest requirements, including the Marketing Levy.

Each municipality keeps a record of accommodations that are required to remit. Interest builds at 4% above the prime rate on late remittances. Municipalities can also issue a conviction: a first conviction carries a fine of $500 to $1,000, and a second conviction carries a fine of $1,500 to $5,000.

You must keep records of your accommodation sales (exempt and non-exempt), the levy you collected and what you remitted for six years. Municipalities can inspect these records with written notice.

In Airbnb, go to Hosting → Listings, choose your listing, then open Taxes from the “More” menu. Add a local tax, choose “percentage by booking,” and enter your HST number and your Nova Scotia registration number. Set your long-term stay exemption at 30 days, then save. Airbnb’s own step-by-step guide has more detail if you need it.

Short-term accommodations (including tourist accommodations) need to register with the Short-term Rentals Registry to operate in Nova Scotia. Registration runs from April 1 to March 31 each year and must be renewed annually.

The Cape Breton Island Marketing Levy provides essential funding for delivering evidence-based marketing initiatives that drive visitation and extend stays.

You don’t pay the levy if:

• Your nightly rate is $20 or less.
• You’re staying in a post-secondary student residence.
• Your stay is longer than 30 consecutive days.
• You or a family member is getting hospital treatment in the municipality.
• You’ve been displaced from your home by a natural disaster (wind, flood, fire or similar).

All guests staying at a fixed-roof accommodation on Cape Breton Island pay the 3% levy, unless their stay is exempt. The levy is subject to HST.