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“I would hope that any regulations are straightforward, realistic and simple for compliance,” Robinson said. “I suspect the hotel industry would like the regulations to be obscure, complex and difficult.”

Robinson added he and his wife are empty nesters and wouldn’t have been able to afford to stay in their infill without the extra income home-sharing has provided. The couple has hosted more than 1,000 people from 60 countries, but Robinson said staying in his home and sharing his kitchen is an entirely different traveller experience than staying in a hotel.

“We’re obviously not a hotel — we shouldn’t come under the Hotel Act,” he said.

In an emailed statement, Marion Nader — spokesperson for Alberta Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda — said the government understands that accommodation offerings need to be relevant to today’s technology and evolving needs of travellers.

“Given that, there are varying approaches to Airbnbs across the country and we are working with tourism industry stakeholders on what might be the best approach for Alberta,” Nader said.

There are currently no formal discussions around home-sharing at the municipal level, but Coun. Richard Pootmans said he has received a handful of complaints over the past year from residents concerned about noise and traffic generated by short-term rental guests in their neighbourhoods. Pootmans said it’s too early for the city to be thinking in terms of regulation but, if it did end up going there, the discussions could be even stickier than the debate around Uber’s car-sharing platform — which mired council in controversy for months.