Accommodation & Rentals · 7 min read · Last updated
The partial dwelling stream covers home sharing: you rent out sleeping rooms in the house you live in, and guests may share common amenities and entrances with you. Because you are present and the space is not a self-contained unit, the City runs a lighter file than the entire dwelling stream. You self-certify instead of applying for a Certificate of Compliance, and the only step after filing is a fire administrative review.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “All or part of a dwelling unit used to provide sleeping accommodations to the travelling public for any rental period that is less than 28 consecutive days in exchange for payment or other remuneration; must be the operator's principal residence. Partial Dwelling is considered the rental of sleeping room(s) in your home (ie. guest may share common amenities with you in the dwelling with common entrance points) subject to the review of the application.”
Who needs this licence?
The underlying definition is the same as the entire dwelling stream: all or part of a dwelling unit used to provide sleeping accommodation to the travelling public for a rental period of less than 28 consecutive days in exchange for payment or other remuneration, and it must be your principal residence.
What makes it partial dwelling is the shape of the arrangement. You are renting sleeping rooms in your home, and guests may share common amenities with you and use common entrance points. If the space you let has its own bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and dedicated entrance, that is not partial dwelling.
The by-law also describes an internal or detached secondary dwelling unit: a unit completely separated from the principal dwelling, either fully detached, such as a laneway dwelling, or separated by a fire separation and a door restricting entry between the two units. A wet bar area in a basement does not create a separate unit. That definition is what tells you whether the space you intend to rent has crossed out of this stream.
Two restrictions apply, and they are the same as in the entire dwelling stream: no licence is issued to a corporation, and no more than one STR operator licence is permitted per operator. The one-listing-per-broker-site restriction stated in the entire dwelling stream is not repeated here, so if listing practice matters to your plans, confirm the position with Licensing and By-law Services rather than assuming either way.
Classification is subject to review of the application. Describe the arrangement accurately in the questionnaire; the City decides the stream.
What documents do you need?
You file the completed Business Licence Application Form and a completed STR questionnaire, then a floor plan showing square footage, number of bedrooms, the number and location of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, evacuation routes and the location of safety equipment. A Zoning Verification Certificate is needed only if the space is a secondary dwelling unit.
The fifth item is the difference that defines this stream. Where the entire dwelling route requires a Certificate of Compliance application, here you complete a self-certification checklist. You are attesting to the condition of the home rather than applying for a property standards inspection of it, which is a lighter obligation on paper and a heavier one in practice, because nobody else is checking before the licence issues.
You supply a copy of your guest information package, and the guide directs you to Section 4.15 of Schedule 32 for what belongs in it. Read that section first; it is a pointer the entire dwelling checklist does not give you.
Then the fire documents: a detailed fire escape plan from the template available on the City website, and a statutory declaration for compliance with the Fire Protection and Prevention Act and the regulations under the Fire Code, also available on the City website. Because it is a statutory declaration, it has to be sworn or affirmed.
The applicant-level items complete the package: proof of insurance for the rental use, host liability or commercial general liability of not less than one million dollars per occurrence; a minimum of two pieces of proof of principal residence, one being government-issued identification; approval of the property owner if applicable; a criminal records and judicial matters check from the police service board where you live, dated within 36 days, with third party clearances not accepted; and a certified electrician inspection or ESA certificate confirming compliance with the Ontario Electrical Safety Code.
Zoning and premises requirements
Zoning verification is conditional. A Zoning Verification Certificate is required only where the short-term rental is a secondary dwelling unit, which is uncommon in this stream because renting sleeping rooms inside the home you occupy is not a separated unit.
The test for a secondary dwelling unit is whether the space is completely separated from the principal dwelling, either fully detached, such as a laneway dwelling, or separated by a fire separation and a door restricting entry between the two units, with its own bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and dedicated entrance. Shared entrances and shared amenities, which are the hallmark of partial dwelling, point the other way.
Practically, that means most partial dwelling applicants avoid the zoning line and the fee attached to it, and the guide prints a total without zoning to reflect that. If you are unsure whether a separated basement space is a secondary dwelling unit, resolve it before you apply, because it changes both your stream and your costs.
No scaled premise plan is required. Your floor plan is the document that shows the City the layout, the detectors and the escape routes.
Inspections and approvals
Only one step follows your application, and the licensing team circulates the request once it has been received: a fire administrative review.
This is a review by the fire service rather than an on-site inspection, which is why the fee schedule shows a fire administrative fee. What it examines is the material you filed: the fire escape plan, the detector locations and evacuation routes on your floor plan, and the statutory declaration of Fire Code compliance.
There is no Certificate of Compliance inspection in this stream. That is the operational consequence of the self-certification checklist replacing the Certificate of Compliance application: the City is relying on your attestation, backed by a sworn declaration, instead of sending an inspector to assess the property against the Property Standards By-law.
There is likewise no health, parking or building inspection. Compared with a Schedule 3 accommodation licence, this is a light-touch file, and the weight sits on the accuracy of what you certify.
How much does it cost?
The application is made up of a processing fee, the licence fee and a fire administrative fee, with a zoning verification or addendum fee added only for secondary dwelling units.
The licence fee in this stream is a small fraction of the entire dwelling licence fee, and there is no Certificate of Compliance line at all. Those two differences make a partial dwelling application markedly cheaper than an entire dwelling one, which is the clearest financial signal of how the City views the two arrangements.
HST is applied unevenly: the processing fee and fire administrative fee carry HST on top of a set fee, while the licence fee and the zoning line are shown without it.
At renewal you pay a renewal fee, the licence fee and the fire administrative fee. A licence allowed to lapse carries a reinstatement fee. The City sets every amount in its fee schedule and confirms them with you when you apply.
How to apply
Confirm you are eligible in principle: an individual rather than a corporation, holding no other STR operator licence, letting rooms in your own principal residence. If you are a tenant, get the property owner's written approval first.
Read Section 4.15 of Schedule 32 and build your guest information package from it. Doing this before you draft anything saves a round of revisions.
Prepare the floor plan showing square footage, bedrooms, smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector locations, evacuation routes and safety equipment, then download the fire escape plan template and the statutory declaration from the City website. Arrange for the declaration to be sworn or affirmed.
Walk the house against the self-certification checklist and correct what it identifies. Arrange the certified electrician inspection or ESA certificate and host liability or commercial general liability insurance for the rental use, and gather two pieces of proof of principal residence including government-issued identification.
Order the criminal records and judicial matters check last so it falls inside the 36-day window, then file everything with the completed application form and STR questionnaire and pay the processing, licence and fire administrative fees. A fire administrative review follows.
Renewals and staying compliant
Declarations A and B are completed at each renewal, and an ESA certificate or electrical inspection certificate is required every three years. Put the electrical date in your calendar, because it runs on its own cycle.
The renewal charges are a renewal fee, the licence fee and the fire administrative fee. The fire administrative element repeats, so keep your fire escape plan and floor plan current rather than resubmitting a version that no longer matches the house.
Your eligibility has to keep holding true. If you stop living in the home, the principal residence basis disappears. If you convert the let space into a self-contained unit with its own kitchen, bathroom and dedicated entrance, you have moved out of the partial dwelling stream and into the entire dwelling one, with its Certificate of Compliance requirement. Renew before the licence lapses, since a late licence carries a reinstatement fee.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. What does partial dwelling mean in Hamilton's short-term rental rules?
Partial dwelling is defined by shared amenities and common entrance points, in contrast to entire dwelling, which is the rental of the whole home with a separate entrance.
2. Which checklist item takes the place of the Certificate of Compliance application in the partial dwelling stream?
The partial dwelling checklist substitutes a self-certification checklist for the Certificate of Compliance application; the statutory declaration and questionnaire are required in both streams.
3. What happens after a partial dwelling application is received?
The partial dwelling stream lists only a fire administrative review of the fire documents you filed, with no property standards inspection.
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This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.