A month in Toronto

The 6% MAT applies to hotel rooms for continuous stays of 30 days or less, so a hotel stay of more than 30 continuous days falls outside it. For short-term rentals the MAT applies to every rental, but a short-term rental is by definition shorter than 28 consecutive days.

HST, 13% in Ontario, is charged on short stays. The Excise Tax Act exempts a residential unit let to the same individual for a continuous month or more; whether a hotel's monthly rate qualifies depends on the property, so ask how the bill will read.

Toronto's short-term rental rules cover lets of less than 28 consecutive days, with the principal residence requirement, the 180-night cap on whole homes and the registration number in the listing. A rental of 28 consecutive days or more is outside that definition.

Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act does not apply to living accommodation intended for the travelling or vacationing public, or occupied for a seasonal or temporary period, in a hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast vacation establishment, vacation home or similar. Whether a furnished month in a private home falls inside the Act depends on the arrangement, so read what the agreement calls the stay before paying.

Harbourfront suits a month by the lake about 1 km from Union Station, and Old Town a month near St. Lawrence Market and the Distillery District. The Beaches suits a month in a flat or a house away from the core, and Yorkville a month close to the Bloor Street shops. Downtown works for a month in a building with a garage. These choices are editorial.

Visitors from the UK and the EU fly to Canada with an eTA, which costs CAD 7 and is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires. Romanians need an electronic passport for it. US citizens and US permanent residents need no eTA, and nobody needs one arriving by car, bus, train or boat.

Most visitors can stay up to six months; the border officer sets the date, and a longer stay needs a visitor record applied for before that date. UK travel advice adds that border officials may ask for a return or onward ticket and proof of enough money for the stay.

Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay: the first month is charged up front and released to the host 24 hours after check-in, later months are charged 10 days in advance, and a long-term cancellation policy applies that generally needs 30 days' notice of changes. Toronto's own short-term rental line sits at 28 consecutive days, and the hotel tax line at 30. Short-term rental companies such as Airbnb and Booking.com must hold a City licence to operate in Toronto, and the City's complaints line for rentals is 311.

Street parking is capped at three hours where no sign says otherwise, and most Green P spaces allow up to three hours, so a month needs a garage, a driveway or permits. On permit parking streets, temporary weekly permits are sold where space allows, online up to two weeks ahead or at the Permit Parking office for up to eight consecutive weeks. Ask the host which applies before booking. A car that has been towed is traced on 416-808-6600, the City's number for towed vehicles.

Booking a rental of under 28 days whose listing shows no STR number. The City tells guests not to rent it.

Counting a hotel month as MAT-free without checking the dates: only a continuous stay of more than 30 days falls outside the tax.

Leaving the car on the street past three hours where no sign allows more.

Paying at a parking machine through a QR code stuck on it. Green P warns about fake ones (via GetCar).