Airbnb co-host refund change on December 1, 2026: what Toronto owners need to do
On October 29, Airbnb emailed our co-host account a short notice that matters to every Toronto owner who uses a co-host. From December 1, 2026, a co-host can no longer send a refund to a guest, or answer a guest’s refund request, in the Resolution Centre when the listing owner lives outside the US, its territories and Brazil. If you own a Toronto rental and live in Canada, refunds on your listing become your job.
Nothing about this means you should change managers. It does mean you and whoever runs your listing should agree, before December 1, how refunds will work.
What changes on December 1, and what stays the same
Airbnb’s email to co-hosts sets out what happens. When a guest asks for a refund, the co-host can’t respond. You, the listing owner, get an email and a notification in the Airbnb app, and the request sits there waiting for you. If the co-host tries to send money to the guest anyway, Airbnb shows an error.
Everything else you’ve allowed stays as it was. Airbnb’s permissions page still says a full-access co-host can message guests, accept and decline trip requests, handle cancellations and date changes, and look after damage claims under host damage protection. A footnote on that page now carves out guest refunds through the Resolution Centre, from December 2026, for owners outside the US and Brazil.
The rule follows where the owner lives, not where the property is. A Leslieville condo owned by someone living in Florida keeps the old setup. A Scarborough house owned by someone living in Markham doesn’t. (Airbnb’s email says the change starts in select areas, so read the notice on your own account too.)
Why a slow refund costs more than the refund
A guest asking for money back is usually still in your home, or has just left it, and is about to write a review. Until now the co-host could settle it in the same conversation: apologise, offer something fair, send it.
From December 1 the apology still comes from your co-host. The money waits for you.
Airbnb tells guests that if the host doesn’t agree to an amount within 72 hours, they can ask Airbnb to step in and mediate. At that point the outcome is Airbnb’s decision rather than your goodwill gesture, and the guest has had three days to decide what kind of review to write.
Our view: an owner who answers a refund request within a few hours will barely notice this change. An owner who opens the Airbnb app twice a week will.
What to agree with your co-host before December 1
- Close anything open now. Airbnb is asking owners and co-hosts to resolve open refund requests before December 1. Open the Resolution Centre and check.
- Make sure Airbnb can reach you. The request goes to the email on your Airbnb account and to the app. If that email is an old address you never read, change it, and turn app notifications on.
- Set an amount your co-host can offer in chat. Your co-host can still talk to the guest and propose a refund; only the sending moves to you. A line in writing, such as “up to one night’s rate, tell me and I’ll send it the same day”, saves a back-and-forth while the guest waits.
- Agree how fast you’ll send it. Pick a time you’ll actually keep, well inside Airbnb’s 72 hours.
- Know which refunds never went through the Resolution Centre. Airbnb says the Resolution Centre can’t be used to refund nights, guest count or pet count; those go through Change reservation. As of October 30, 2026, Airbnb’s permissions table still lists trip changes for full-access co-hosts, so a shortened stay can still be handled by your co-host.
Damage claims are the other half of the Resolution Centre, and Airbnb’s email says co-hosts may still be able to manage reimbursement requests under damage protection. If you’ve given your co-host full access, that part shouldn’t change.
Can the listing move to your manager’s account instead?
For a short-term rental in Toronto, no. The City’s FAQ on advertising short-term rentals says the owner of the listing has to be the registered operator, and the name on the listing has to match the registration. If you hold the registration, the Airbnb listing stays on your account, and so does the refund button.
Furnished stays of 28 nights or more are different. They fall outside the City’s short-term rental rules, so the City sets no condition on whose account the listing sits. We’d still keep it on yours: if a listing sits on someone else’s Airbnb account, so do its reviews and booking history, and they stay there if you ever part ways.
Either way, we co-host on your own Airbnb account, for short-term rentals and for furnished mid-term rentals. You keep the listing, the reviews and the history. The trade-off is exactly this change: from December 1, our team still handles the conversation with the guest, and the send button is yours. A few taps a year is a fair price for owning your listing.
This is the second Airbnb rule change for Toronto owners this fall. The first, the new checkout and house rules from November 20, is worth a read if you haven’t updated your listing yet.
If you’d like to talk through how refunds, cleaning and guest messages would work on your listing, send us a note. Our fee is a low 10% commission with no added fees, and the pricing table shows what’s included.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Centre: What co-hosts can do
- Airbnb Help Centre: Request or send money in the Resolution Centre
- Airbnb Help Centre: Request a refund (guest)
- City of Toronto: Frequently Asked Questions: Advertising short-term rentals online
- Airbnb email to co-hosts, “Update to refunds in the Resolution Centre”, October 29, 2026
Last updated: October 30, 2026