Tugboat deckhand Thomas Cowan is in a unique position when it comes to using his Herald Street condominium as a principal residence when he is home in Victoria and as a revenue generator through Airbnb when he’s at sea.
Cowan lives on board his employer’s tugboat in Vancouver Harbour when on the job. “My career is just working on a boat.”He counts on that rental revenue to help cover mortgage costs and tuition. He’s one course away from earning his Master 500 GT Domestic certificate. He had been hoping to next earn his Master 3,000 GT credentials at a time when skilled marine workers are in short supply.
His condo building has legally non-conforming status allowing short-term rentals by owners who do not live there. That status is being stripped by the province for several buildings in the city, affecting many owners who are not living in their units as a principal residence. Some strata buildings have bylaws prohibiting short-term accommodation while others do not and may have many such units in a building.