The idea behind the rule
These by-laws share one aim: when something goes wrong at a rental, at two in the morning or two in the afternoon, the municipality wants a named adult it can reach, even when the owner is three hours away in the city. So each one asks the licence holder to name that person, and most set a clock on two things, how fast the person must reply and how fast they must arrive. Those two clocks, more than the fee, decide who can do the job for you.
A reply means answering the municipality, a neighbour or a guest by phone or message. Attending means a person standing at the property. A host in Toronto can usually manage the first. Almost nobody in Toronto can manage the second for a cottage two or three hours north, which is why the role so often falls to someone local.
Huntsville
Huntsville’s current by-law, 2025-19, passed in February 2025, is the strictest we deal with. The owner or agent, who must be 18 or older, has to be reachable within half an hour and at the property within the hour. A cottage reached only by water must keep a boat available so that hour can still be met. The town also caps licences at 250, requires an owner to have held the property for a year before licensing it, bans rentals in the UR1 precinct, and revokes a licence after three valid complaints in two years. For 2026, a new licence costs $750 for a principal residence and $1,000 for a secondary property, and renewals are $375 and $750.
In practice: your Responsible Person in Huntsville must live, or be staying, within an hour’s drive of the cottage in every season you rent.
Lake of Bays
Lake of Bays licensed rentals in 2021 and its current by-law is 2024-065. Its rule separates the two clocks: the owner or the owner’s agent must be reachable within an hour, and must attend the property within a day of being told about a problem. Applications go through the Cloudpermit portal, and the township asks for 45 days to process them. The 2026 fees are reported as $1,000 to apply and $900 to renew under a 2025 fees by-law; that figure is reported, not yet confirmed from the by-law text.
In practice: the phone has to be answered quickly, but the person attending can be a planned drive away, which widens the field of people who can do the job.
Muskoka Lakes
Muskoka Lakes’ By-law 2025-049 took effect in April 2025. Its Responsible Person must be physically at the rental within one hour of the township’s communication, the township runs a complaint line that is open around the clock, and a demerit system suspends a licence at 15 points. The licence costs $1,000 in waterfront and R4 zones and $500 elsewhere.
In practice: as in Huntsville, you need someone who lives on or near your lake, and with the demerit system, someone who answers every time.
West Nipissing
West Nipissing passed By-law 2024/23 in April 2024. It names a Dedicated Responsible Person, at least 18 years old, whose name and contact details appear on the licence and on the municipal website, and who must answer calls and emails and be at the property within 60 minutes of an emergency or a by-law breach. Missing the hour carries a $1,000 penalty. A first licence costs $750, whether Class A for a principal home or Class B for any other dwelling, with $250 renewals, $200 inspections and $250 appeals. The municipality issued 13 licences in 2024 and 14 in 2025, and council was considering easing the rules in 2026, so check the current text before you apply.
In practice: the north shore around Sturgeon Falls is about half an hour from North Bay, so a Responsible Person based there can meet the hour; the West Arm is a longer drive.
Magnetawan
Magnetawan’s By-law 2023-54, from October 2023, licenses short-term accommodation under a cap of 170 licences, with a seven-night minimum stay and liability insurance of $2 million to $5 million. Its penalty schedule charges $1,500 and four demerit points for failing to respond to a concern within 30 minutes. The 2025 application fee is $1,000.
In practice: thirty minutes is short, but the rule speaks of responding, and nothing in the wording we have read requires someone at the door in that time. A Responsible Person who keeps the phone on can meet it from anywhere; one who must also attend quickly needs to live close.
The four Haliburton townships
Dysart et al, Minden Hills, Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East all brought their by-laws into force on 1 October 2024, and they share one rule: respond within 60 minutes, attend within 24 hours. Dysart et al (By-law 2024-14) charges $500 a year and $150 for a re-inspection, with a 2% municipal accommodation tax. Minden Hills (By-law 24-31) charges $500 to start and $500 to renew, and the Responsible Person must be named on a sign at the property. Highlands East (By-law 2024-32) charges $500 a year and $150 for an inspection. Algonquin Highlands (By-law 2024-81) sets its fee in a separate fees by-law and does not publish the amount on its page, so we cannot confirm it from the by-law text. Minden Hills, Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East charge a 4% accommodation tax.
In practice: the same as Lake of Bays. A quick reply and a visit within the day suit a Responsible Person who lives in the county or within a couple of hours of it.
How to choose your Responsible Person
- Time the drive. Measure it from where the person actually lives to your cottage, in winter as well as in July, and compare it with the attendance clock.
- Check the phone side. Ask how they will answer a call at night and on weekends during your rental season, and who covers them if they are away.
- Put it in writing. Some municipalities have a consent form for the Responsible Person to sign. Even where none exists, agree in writing what the person will do and what you will pay for it.
- Keep the by-law current. Several of these by-laws were replaced or amended between 2021 and 2025, and Huntsville and Lake of Bays set new fees for 2026. Read the version in force, not last year’s summary.
- Know the penalties. West Nipissing charges $1,000 for a missed hour, and Magnetawan $1,500 and four demerit points for a missed half hour. Agree in advance who pays if your Responsible Person misses a call.
Where the rules sit side by side
The table on this page shows each municipality’s licence status, fee and Responsible Person rule as we last confirmed them, with a link to the by-law or the municipal page. Anything we could not read for ourselves is marked as reported, not yet confirmed from the by-law text.