List your cottage free

Owner terms

Last updated November 3 2026

These terms are the listing agreement between you, the owner, and Dock & Loon, an operating name of Lifestyle Basics Enterprise Inc., 2026 Tenth Line Road, Ottawa, Ontario K4A 4X4. The Terms of use and the privacy policy also apply. You accept these terms when you create an owner account or publish a listing.

1. Who can list

  • You own the cottage, or you are authorised in writing by every owner to rent it and to accept these terms for them.
  • The cottage is in Ontario and outside the City of Ottawa.
  • You are at least 18.
  • You list on your own account, under your real name.

2. Listing is free

No commission on your rent. Listing is free; the only deduction from your rent is standard card processing, paid to Stripe. Pro ($399/yr) is optional.

  • Dock & Loon does not take a percentage of your rent or of your required fees.
  • Stripe charges its card processing fee on each card payment, which is the full amount the renter pays, including the Dock & Loon service fee and taxes. See section 7.
  • There is no yearly fee to list and no card is needed to start.
  • Dock & Loon Pro, $399 a year, is optional and starts only if you choose it. There is no automatic charge. Founding owners (owners who sign up before our public launch day) get Pro free until their first booking through Dock & Loon. See Dock & Loon Pro.

3. Your listing

  • Describe the cottage truthfully. You are responsible for every word, photo and fact in your listing, including the Waterfront & Cottage Snapshot. Facts you enter are labelled “owner-reported”.
  • Use only photos you took or have the right to use.
  • Keep your calendar up to date. You can link calendars from other booking sites so booked dates show as not available.
  • Set your rent, your required fees and your house rules. Required fees are a cleaning fee, an extra-guest fee and a pet fee. You may not ask a renter to pay any other required fee, on or off Dock & Loon.
  • Optional extras (for example a canoe, firewood, linens or early check-in) are shown with their price, are never pre-selected, and are charged only if the renter picks them. If every renter must pay for something, it is a required fee.
  • Choose a cancellation policy from the ones on our Cancellations and deposits page. It shows on your listing, at checkout and in the rental agreement.
  • You may set a refundable security deposit. It is never a fee and never part of the price. See section 11.
  • The exact address is shown to the renter after you confirm a booking, and the arrival instructions from 48 hours before check-in.
  • Do not put an email address, phone number or outside link in your listing or messages. Renters reach you through the site.

4. D&L Checked

The D&L Checked mark shows on your listing only when all three checks pass. Each is shown with its date.

  1. Owner ID. You prove who you are through Stripe Identity. Stripe keeps the ID images. We never see or keep them; we keep only the result and the date.
  2. Ownership document. You send a property tax bill, an MPAC property assessment notice or the land title (parcel register). Our staff look at it, record “checked” with the date and the document type, and delete the file at that moment. Renters see the date the ownership document was checked, never the document.
  3. Township status. One of two paths:
    • If your township has a short-term rental licence by-law: your licence number and expiry date, confirmed with the township on a date we show.
    • If our Township Rules Check confirms no municipal short-term rental licence by-law was found for your township: the listing shows that no municipal short-term rental licence by-law was found in your township, with the date checked and the source, and your signed owner declaration that the cottage follows local by-laws is on file.
    • If the rule for your township is not confirmed yet, the mark does not show until it is.

Listings show in search with or without the mark. Bookings open only for cottages with the mark, once card payments are switched on and the township’s accommodation-tax status is on record: either its municipal accommodation tax by-law, or a dated check that no such by-law was found.

If a check expires or no longer holds (for example a licence expires or is suspended), the mark comes off until it passes again. Tell us within 5 days if your licence is suspended, revoked or not renewed.

The mark is a dated record of these three checks. It is not a statement that the cottage is safe, insured, correctly zoned or legal to rent. See What D&L Checked means.

5. Local rules are your responsibility

You are responsible for following every law and by-law that applies to renting your cottage, including licensing, occupancy, parking, fire safety, septic, noise, insurance and municipal accommodation tax. Our Township Rules Check and guides help you find the rules. They summarise public sources with a date and are not legal advice. The township’s own by-law is the final word.

Rules differ a lot from one township to the next. For example, the Town of Collingwood’s short-term accommodation by-law (2024-078) allows a short-term rental only in the licence holder’s principal residence or an additional unit on the same property. A cottage that is not the owner’s principal residence cannot be licensed there. Check your own township before you list.

You must not list a cottage that the township does not allow you to rent for the stays you offer.

Seasonal stays (28 to 120 nights). You may offer seasonal stays if you choose. To turn them on, you confirm that the renter has a permanent home elsewhere and that you have checked your town’s rules for stays of 28 nights or more. Each seasonal booking includes a Seasonal Vacation Stay Agreement in which the renter gives their permanent address. Seasonal stays by the same renter at the same cottage need at least 30 days between them.

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 excludes living accommodation provided to the vacationing public, including a cottage or vacation home, under section 5(a). A long stay can still be found to be a tenancy depending on its facts, so seasonal stays carry that risk. Some municipal by-laws also treat stays of 28 nights or more differently. Get your own advice if you are unsure.

6. Bookings

  • A renter sends a booking request through the site. You accept or decline it within your reply window. You choose the window in your settings, from 24 to 48 hours; it starts at 24 hours. If you do not reply in time, the request ends.
  • Your dashboard shows the full price and your payout for each request before you accept.
  • Returning-guest price. The renter’s service fee is 3% instead of 6% when your own returning guest books again: the renter is signed in with a confirmed email and has a completed Dock & Loon stay at your cottage, or that email is on your returning-guest list and they book through your returning-guest link. You can add up to 50 families per cottage. You confirm the family has stayed with you before when you approve. If you do not confirm, you can switch the request to the 6% price; the renter must accept the new price before you approve. Add only families who have stayed at your cottage. Misuse can lead to the 6% fee on your future bookings and removal of the returning-guest list.
  • Priority re-booking. If you turn it on, a guest who just stayed can rebook the same week for next year before anyone else, for the number of days you set.
  • If you must cancel a confirmed booking, tell the renter and us through the site at once. The renter gets a full refund of everything they paid, including the Dock & Loon service fee. Repeated owner cancellations can lead to removal of your listing.

7. Payments and payouts

  • Payments are processed by Stripe through Stripe Connect. You open a Stripe account and accept Stripe’s terms. You are the merchant of record for your stay: the renter’s payments are charged through your Stripe account, and Dock & Loon receives its service fee from each payment.
  • Nothing is charged when the renter sends a request; their card is saved. If you accept, the first payment (50%) is charged. The renter pays 50% when you accept the booking and the balance 30 days before arrival. If arrival is less than 30 days away when you accept, the renter pays the full amount at acceptance. A card is saved at checkout for the balance and for documented damage claims under the rental agreement.
  • Card processing. Stripe deducts its card processing fee from your payout: 2.9% + $0.30 on each card payment, which is the full amount the renter pays, including the Dock & Loon service fee and taxes. Cards issued outside Canada and currency conversion cost more. Stripe sets the exact amount. A booking is usually paid in two payments, so the $0.30 applies to each. Your dashboard shows the estimate before you accept.
  • Bank debit. If you turn on bank debit for the balance, Stripe’s bank-debit fee applies to that payment instead (about 1% + $0.40, capped at $5).
  • Your payout for a booking is your rent, your required fees and the optional extras the renter chose, plus the municipal accommodation tax and, if you are GST/HST registered, the HST on your stay, minus Stripe’s processing fees. The Dock & Loon service fee and the GST/HST that Dock & Loon collects are not part of your payout.
  • Stripe pays out to your bank account on Stripe’s payout schedule.
  • If a payment is refunded, Stripe may keep its processing fee on the original payment. That fee is not returned to you.

8. The renter’s service fee

  • The renter pays a Dock & Loon service fee of 6% on a marketplace booking, and 3% for your qualifying returning guests.
  • The fee is calculated on the rent plus your required fees. It is not calculated on optional extras or taxes.
  • The fee is a line inside the one all-in price the renter sees in search, on your listing, at checkout and on the receipt. The all-in total is a whole dollar. Your rent and fees show exactly; the Dock & Loon fee absorbs the rounding.

9. Taxes

  • GST/HST, registered owners. If you are registered for GST/HST, the HST on your stay is shown inside the all-in price and paid to you in your payout. You report and remit it.
  • GST/HST, owners not registered. If you are not registered, Dock & Loon collects the GST/HST on stays under one month from the renter, inside the all-in price, and remits it to the Canada Revenue Agency. It is not part of your payout. For stays of one month or more, the checkout shows the GST/HST that applies to that stay. Tell us at once if your registration status changes.
  • Municipal accommodation tax (MAT). Where your municipality charges MAT, it is a separate line inside the all-in price and is paid to you in your payout. You remit it to the municipality. The D&L Ledger gives you a quarterly summary for your records.
  • Income tax. Your rental income is yours to report. Canadian tax law may require us to report owners’ rental income to the Canada Revenue Agency. We will tell you before we collect any information for that.
  • The D&L Ledger summaries are for your records. They are not tax advice. Confirm with your accountant.

10. Guests’ information

  • You may use a renter’s information only to arrange and host their stay.
  • Do not add renters to a mailing list without their consent, and follow Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation for any email you send.
  • The Ontario guest register (O. Reg. 292/25) for short stays is kept by Dock & Loon. Owners do not see it.

11. Security deposit and damage

  • If you set a security deposit, a hold for that amount is placed on the renter’s card on check-in day. It is a hold, not a charge.
  • The hold ends at check-out, or earlier if the renter’s card company ends it. You can still make a damage claim within 7 days after check-out; an approved claim is charged to the renter’s saved card, up to the deposit amount.
  • If something is damaged or missing, send the claim through the site within 7 days after check-out, with dated photos and a receipt, invoice or written quote. The renter sees the claim, gets a reminder through the site and by email, and has 7 days to accept it or answer it with their own evidence.
  • A claim the renter accepts, or does not answer within those 7 days, can be charged against the deposit hold or the saved card, up to the deposit amount. A disputed claim is not charged; you and the renter settle it between yourselves.
  • Normal wear and tear is not damage.

12. Removal and suspension

We may hide or remove a listing, pause new bookings, or close an owner account if:

  • a check behind D&L Checked fails, expires or was based on false information;
  • the township does not allow the rental, or a licence is suspended or revoked;
  • the listing is false or misleading;
  • you ask for or take payment outside the Dock & Loon checkout;
  • you cancel confirmed bookings repeatedly;
  • you discriminate against, harass or endanger renters or neighbours;
  • you break these terms or the law.

We tell you the reason and, where it can be fixed, what to fix, unless the law or a safety reason stops us. Confirmed bookings are handled under the rental agreement and the cancellation policy.

You can remove your listing at any time through the contact page (topic “Listing my cottage”). Confirmed bookings stay in place unless you cancel them under section 6.

13. Our responsibility

Dock & Loon provides the website, the checks described above and the payment set-up with Stripe. We are not a party to your rental agreement and we do not manage your cottage or your guests.

To the extent the law allows, we are not responsible for your stays, your guests or the conduct of a renter, except where a loss is caused by our own negligence or our breach of these terms. Where we are responsible, our total responsibility to you is limited to the Dock & Loon fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. This limit does not apply to personal injury caused by our negligence, to our gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or where the law does not allow it.

You are responsible for claims that arise from your cottage, your listing, your stays or your failure to follow the law.

14. Changes

We give owners at least 30 days’ notice by email before a change to the service fee, the Pro price or these terms takes effect. If you do not accept the change, you can remove your listing before that date. A change never affects a booking you already accepted.

15. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there.

Questions: the contact page (topic “Listing my cottage”), or Dock & Loon, 2026 Tenth Line Road, Ottawa, Ontario K4A 4X4.

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