Hotel And Lodging Tax In Niagara Falls 2026: MAT Rate And Rules

How Niagara Falls' Hotel and Lodging Tax Works

Guests booking a room in Niagara Falls pay Ontario's 13% HST plus the City's own Municipal Accommodation Tax, which has gone through more structural change than almost any other Ontario municipality's version of this tax. The City introduced MAT in 2019 as a flat $2 charge per room per night, regardless of the property's rate or category, a mechanism unlike the percentage-based tax Toronto and Ottawa have used since their own MAT programs began.

City Council revisited that structure with By-law 2025-009, approved January 14, 2025, which replaced the flat $2 fee with a tiered, star-rating-based nightly charge effective June 2025: properties rated two stars charged $4 per night, five-star properties charged $7 per night, and unrated properties charged $5 per night. Less than a year later, Council replaced that system again with By-law 2025-072, moving Niagara Falls to a flat percentage of the total room rate for the first time: 4% effective April 1, 2026, stepping up to 5% on April 1, 2027.

MAT applies to short-term stays of 28 consecutive days or less, one day shorter than the 30-day threshold used in Toronto and Ottawa, and it covers a broader named list of lodging types than either of those cities publish: hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, vacation rental units, and owner-occupied short-term rentals. The tax funds Niagara Falls Tourism, the City's destination marketing organization, along with tourism asset development and sustainability initiatives tied to the visitor economy.

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Tax Rates and Extra Fees

The two taxes stack the same way they do everywhere else in Ontario: MAT is calculated first, as a percentage of the room charge, and HST at 13% is then applied to the MAT-inclusive total, not the bare room rate, since Ontario treats MAT as part of the taxable accommodation supply. On a $200 room night at the 2026 rate, MAT adds $8, HST applies to the resulting $208, adding $27.04, for a total of $235.04 rather than $234 if the two taxes were calculated separately.

Because the rate itself steps up a second time on April 1, 2027, a property quoting or pre-selling stays that straddle that date needs to apply the correct rate based on the date of the stay, not the date of booking, which is where the old flat per-night fee was actually simpler than the new percentage model.

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Collection and Remittance

Remittance in Niagara Falls is in the middle of its own transition. For overnight stays through May 31, 2026, operators continue submitting MAT through the City's existing process. Starting with stays on or after June 1, 2026, the City has handed day-to-day collection to the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA), which now administers a dedicated online MAT portal and fields remittance questions directly (mat@orhma.com). This is a different model again from Toronto's direct city administration and Ottawa's use of a local hotel association (OGHA); Niagara Falls instead uses ORHMA, a province-wide hospitality association that also supports MAT administration for other Ontario municipalities.

Filing frequency depends on the type of operator. Hotels and motels file and remit monthly, with the prior month's tax due at month end. Bed and breakfasts, vacation rental units, and owner-occupied short-term rentals file quarterly instead, on a fixed schedule tied to January, April, July, and October, rather than the calendar-quarter-end deadlines some other Ontario cities use for short-term rentals.

Because the portal changeover lands in the same year as the rate change, a property that only updates its MAT rate but keeps submitting through the old City process past May 31, 2026, risks a remittance going to the wrong destination even if the amount collected from guests is correct.

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Exemptions From Niagara Falls' Hotel Tax

Niagara Falls exempts any stay longer than 28 consecutive days, one day short of the 30-day threshold Toronto and Ottawa use. Beyond that, the City's exemption list is longer and more specific than either of those cities publish, covering:

• Accommodation provided by an Ontario government agency, board, or commission.
• Accommodation provided by a school board.
• Student housing at a college, university, or other post-secondary institution.
• Public and private hospitals.
• Retirement homes, hospices, and long-term care facilities.
• Provincial treatment centres and non-profit shelters.
• Campsites and trailer parks.
• Employer-provided employee housing.
• Meeting or display rooms that do not include a bed.

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Common Mistakes Hotels Make With MAT and HST Compliance

• Still charging a per-night star-rating fee after April 1, 2026. The $4 to $7 tiered nightly charge was retired when the flat 4% rate took effect, and any property still billing the old fee structure is charging guests incorrectly.
• Using the 30-day exemption threshold from Toronto or Ottawa. Niagara Falls exempts stays over 28 consecutive days, not 30, and applying the wrong threshold can mean under- or over-collecting on longer stays.
• Remitting through the old City process after May 31, 2026. Stays from June 1, 2026 onward need to go through the new ORHMA portal, and a property still filing with the City directly risks a remittance that never reaches the right administrator.
• Filing short-term rentals on a monthly cycle. Bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, and owner-occupied short-term rentals file quarterly, on the City's January, April, July, October schedule, not monthly like hotels and motels.
• Not adjusting rates mid-stay for bookings that cross April 1, 2027. Because the rate steps from 4% to 5% on a fixed date rather than a booking date, a multi-night stay spanning that date needs the correct rate applied per night.
• Calculating HST on the room rate instead of the MAT-inclusive total. As with the rest of Ontario, HST applies to the room charge plus MAT together, not the room charge alone.

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Where A PMS Fits Into MAT and HST Compliance

Few Ontario cities have moved this fast through this many different tax mechanics: a flat per-night fee, then a star-rating tiered fee, then a percentage rate that itself steps up again in 2027, alongside a mid-2026 switch from City-run remittance to an ORHMA-administered portal. A property management system like roommaster can hold the current MAT rate and structure as a configurable tax code tied to the stay date rather than the booking date, so a reservation that spans the April 2027 rate change, or that was booked back when the old star-rating fee applied, still calculates and reports correctly. That same configuration can route remittance data to match whichever administrator, the City or ORHMA, is responsible for the stay period in question, which matters given how recently that responsibility changed hands.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does Niagara Falls have its own hotel tax rate?

Yes. Niagara Falls sets its own Municipal Accommodation Tax rate under By-law 2025-072. The rate is 4% as of April 1, 2026, and is set to rise to 5% on April 1, 2027.

2. What is Niagara Falls' hotel tax?

Niagara Falls' hotel tax is the Municipal Accommodation Tax, charged on top of Ontario's 13% HST for stays of 28 consecutive days or less at hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, and owner-occupied short-term rentals.

3. What is Niagara Falls' lodging tax?

Niagara Falls' lodging tax is the same charge as its hotel tax and MAT. Lodging tax, bed tax, room tax, and MAT are different names for the same municipal charge.

4. How long does a stay need to be to avoid Niagara Falls' hotel tax?

A stay needs to run longer than 28 consecutive days to be exempt from MAT, one day shorter than the 30-day threshold used in Toronto and Ottawa.

5. Who collects Niagara Falls' Municipal Accommodation Tax?

The City of Niagara Falls administered MAT directly through May 31, 2026. Starting with stays from June 1, 2026 onward, the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA) administers collection through a new online portal.

6. Who is responsible for filing Niagara Falls' MAT?

The accommodation operator is responsible. Hotels and motels file monthly, while bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, and owner-occupied short-term rentals file quarterly on a January, April, July, October schedule.

7. Why did Niagara Falls change its accommodation tax from a per-night fee to a percentage rate?

The City moved from a flat $2 per-night charge introduced in 2019, to a star-rating tiered fee of $4 to $7 per night starting June 2025 under By-law 2025-009, and then to a flat 4% rate starting April 1, 2026 under By-law 2025-072, the first time the tax has been calculated as a percentage of the room rate rather than a fixed dollar amount.