THUNDER BAY – At-large Coun. Kasey Etreni feels it’s time for Thunder Bay to look at bumping up the municipal accommodation tax (MAT).
Etreni explained that the tax is charged to visitors that stay in the city.
“Communities such as Kitchener, Ottawa and Toronto have all increased their tax from the original four per cent to anywhere between five and six per cent; in fact, Toronto bumped theirs up to six per cent,” Etreni explained.
“I believe it is the time to take a look at our MAT and potentially increase it to five per cent.”
The MAT was introduced in 2018 at an established rate of four per cent.
Staff report that the city has received more than $12.3 million in revenue. The annual MAT revenue received is divided equally between the city and the Community Economic Development Commission.
“I know people were very concerned that when MAT became included on your accommodation bills that we would lose tourism,” Etreni added.
“Travellers do definitely pay attention to their bill and save money where they can, but I believe people are quite accustomed and used to the tax by now.
“Tourism has a huge economic value on our community and I don’t see raising the MAT by one per cent as doing harm to that but actually bringing more money into our community.”
Etreni is looking for help from staff -- to come back with solutions by September in time to incorporate the increase for 2025.
