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Hotel And Lodging Tax In Ottawa 2026: MAT Rate And Rules
Ottawa's Municipal Accommodation Tax rose to 6% on January 1, 2026, partly to fund Lansdowne Park. Combined with Ontario's 13% HST, here is how the rate, exemptions, and filing rules work in 2026.
September 12, 2026
9
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TL;DR
- Ottawa guests pay 13% HST plus a 6% Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT), for a combined charge of roughly 19.8% on the room portion of a stay.
- Hotel tax, lodging tax, bed tax, room tax, and MAT are all names for the same charge in Ottawa. There is no separate additional levy.
- Ottawa's MAT climbed twice in three years: 4% from January 2018, up to 5% on January 1, 2024, and up to 6% on January 1, 2026 under By-law 2026-8.
- Part of the 2026 increase was earmarked in the City's own budget documents to help fund the Lansdowne Park redevelopment, alongside festivals and tourism infrastructure.
- Ottawa is administered differently than most Ontario cities: the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association (OGHA) collects and processes MAT as the City's agent, rather than the City handling it directly.
- MAT exempts stays of 30 consecutive days or more, and Ottawa carves out a specific exemption for owner-occupied bed and breakfasts that meet the City's zoning definition.
- Short-term rental platforms, not individual hosts, are the ones legally required to collect and remit MAT on Ottawa bookings, a different split of responsibility than Toronto uses.
- Half of net MAT revenue funds Ottawa Tourism's marketing and destination development work; the City retains and directs the other half.
How Ottawa's Hotel and Lodging Tax Works
Guests booking a hotel room or a registered short-term rental in Ottawa pay Ontario's 13% HST plus the City's own Municipal Accommodation Tax, currently 6%. Ottawa was among the first Ontario cities to adopt a MAT, with City Council approving a mandatory 4% tax on December 13, 2017, effective January 1, 2018, under the same provincial framework, Ontario Regulation 435/17, that authorizes most other Ontario municipalities to levy a transient accommodation tax.
The current rate sits in By-law No. 2022-56, which consolidated and updated the City's original MAT rules. That by-law has been amended twice on rate alone since then: an amendment raised the rate from 4% to 5% effective January 1, 2024, and By-law 2026-8 raised it again from 5% to 6%, effective January 1, 2026. City budget materials tied the 2026 increase specifically to funding pressures around the Lansdowne Park redevelopment project, along with festival support and broader tourism infrastructure spending, rather than presenting it as a routine inflationary adjustment.
MAT applies to the purchase price of overnight accommodation at hotels, motels, and short-term rentals booked through a platform, for stays under 30 consecutive nights. Unlike Toronto, which administers MAT directly out of city hall, Ottawa delegates day-to-day collection and processing to the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association (OGHA), acting as the City's agent, which shapes how hoteliers actually interact with the tax day to day.
Tax Rates and Extra Fees
| Component | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| HST (provincial and federal) | 13% | Applies to the total accommodation charge including MAT, not just the base room rate. |
| Municipal Accommodation Tax | 6% | Rose from 5% to 6% on January 1, 2026 under By-law 2026-8, an amendment to By-law 2022-56. |
| Short-term rental host permit fee | Set by the City, paid annually | A licensing cost under By-law 2021-104, separate from MAT and not charged to guests. |
As with the rest of Ontario, the two taxes stack rather than sitting side by side. MAT is calculated first, as 6% of the room charge, and HST at 13% is then applied to the MAT-inclusive total rather than the bare room rate, since Ontario treats MAT as part of the taxable accommodation supply for HST purposes. On a $200 room night, MAT adds $12, HST applies to the resulting $212, adding $27.56, for a total of $239.56 rather than $226.
The short-term rental host permit fee under By-law 2021-104 is a municipal licensing charge tied to operating a registered rental, not a per-stay tax passed to guests, but an unpaid or lapsed permit can put a host offside on the separate MAT collection obligation that platforms are required to enforce.
Collection and Remittance
Hotel and motel operators remit MAT monthly through the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, which processes payments and reporting as the City's designated collection agent, a structure that sets Ottawa apart from Toronto's direct city administration. Payment and the accompanying report are due within 30 days of the end of the previous month, and operators must file a report even in months where every stay qualified for an exemption, since the City requires documentation of the exemption rather than simply skipping the filing.
Short-term rentals work differently again. Under By-law 2021-104, the obligation to collect and remit MAT sits with the short-term rental platform itself, not the individual host, and platforms must report room nights sold, purchase price, and levy collected to the City on a recurring basis. This is a meaningfully different allocation of responsibility than Toronto's rules, where the registered host, not the platform, carries the legal remittance duty. A host renting through a platform that is not properly registered and remitting to Ottawa can still end up exposed if the City cannot verify the platform's filings.
Late remittances, whether from a hotel or a platform, accrue interest at 1.25% per month under the by-law's penalty provisions.
Exemptions From Ottawa's Hotel Tax
Ottawa exempts any stay of 30 consecutive nights or more, calculated on the same guest occupying the same room continuously, similar in structure to the long-stay exemption used across Ontario. Beyond that threshold, Ottawa's by-law carries an exemption that is more specific than what most Ontario cities publish: a traditional bed and breakfast is exempt from collecting and remitting MAT if it meets the definition set out in the City's Zoning By-law 2008-250, is owner-occupied, is classified in the residential property tax class, and invoices guests directly rather than taking bookings through a short-term rental platform. A B&B that lists through a platform instead of billing guests directly loses that exemption and is treated like any other short-term rental for MAT purposes.
Common Mistakes Hotels Make With MAT and HST Compliance
- Still budgeting on the old 5% MAT rate. Properties that did not update their tax configuration for the January 1, 2026 increase to 6% under By-law 2026-8 have been undercollecting on every booking since.
- Calculating HST on the room rate instead of the MAT-inclusive total. HST applies to the room charge plus MAT together, and skipping that stacking order creates a small but constant shortfall.
- Assuming the City handles MAT filings directly. Ottawa routes hotel remittance through the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association as its collection agent, so a hotel mailing payment or paperwork straight to City Hall can miss the correct process.
- Skipping the monthly report during an exemption-only month. Ottawa still requires a filing that documents the exemption, even when no MAT is actually owed for that period.
- Treating the bed and breakfast exemption as automatic for any small operator. The exemption only applies to an owner-occupied B&B meeting Zoning By-law 2008-250's definition that bills guests directly. Listing the same rooms on a booking platform forfeits the exemption.
- Assuming a host, not the platform, owes MAT on short-term rental bookings. Ottawa places the collection and remittance duty on the platform itself under By-law 2021-104, the reverse of how some other Ontario cities assign that responsibility to the host.
Where A PMS Fits Into MAT and HST Compliance
Ottawa's back-to-back rate increases, from 4% to 5% in 2024 and 5% to 6% in 2026, mean a property's tax configuration has needed updating twice in three years just to keep pace with City Council decisions, on top of getting the MAT-then-HST stacking order right on every folio. A property management system like roommaster can hold the current MAT rate as a configurable tax code so a rate change takes effect across every booking the moment it is updated, rather than depending on someone manually adjusting a spreadsheet template each time Council votes on the budget. For a property also filing exemption-only months for OGHA, having occupancy and exemption data already organized in the PMS makes it easier to produce the documentation Ottawa still requires even when no tax is owed.
See how roommaster simplifies multi-property tax reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does Ottawa have its own hotel tax rate?
Yes. Ottawa sets its own Municipal Accommodation Tax rate under By-law 2022-56, as amended. The rate is 6%, effective January 1, 2026, up from 5% the year before.
2. What is Ottawa's hotel tax?
Ottawa's hotel tax is the 6% Municipal Accommodation Tax, charged on top of Ontario's 13% HST for hotel and registered short-term rental stays under 30 consecutive nights.
3. What is Ottawa's lodging tax?
Ottawa's 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 identical 6% municipal charge.
4. How long does a stay need to be to avoid Ottawa's hotel tax?
A stay needs to run 30 consecutive nights or more, with the same guest in the same room throughout, to be exempt from MAT.
5. Does Ottawa require a separate exemption process for bed and breakfasts?
Yes. Ottawa exempts owner-occupied bed and breakfasts that meet the definition in Zoning By-law 2008-250, are classified in the residential property tax class, and invoice guests directly. A B&B that books through a short-term rental platform does not qualify for this exemption.
6. Who is responsible for filing Ottawa's MAT?
Hotels and motels remit monthly through the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association as the City's collection agent. For short-term rentals, the platform itself, not the individual host, is legally required to collect and remit MAT under By-law 2021-104.
7. Why did Ottawa raise its hotel tax to 6% in 2026?
City Council raised MAT from 5% to 6% effective January 1, 2026 through By-law 2026-8. City budget documents connected the increase to funding needs tied to the Lansdowne Park redevelopment, along with festival support and tourism infrastructure spending.
