Municipal Services Corporation

We want to hear from you! The City is proposing the creation of a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC) named 'Destination Pickering', to serve as the Eligible Tourism Entity in Pickering. The mandate of this Corporation would be the promotion of tourism, in alignment with the City's 2024 - 2027 Community Visitor Plan.

Overview

The City of Pickering is looking to implement a Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) in 2025.

Municipal Accommodation Tax is a tax imposed by a local government or municipality on the price of overnight accommodations within its jurisdiction. MAT is typically applied to hotels, motels, and other types of overnight lodging establishments.

The primary purpose of the MAT is to generate additional revenue for the municipality to support various initiatives, such as tourism promotion, tourism infrastructure, and tourism product development, benefiting both visitors and residents.

Implementing this tax on accommodations allows the City to justly distribute the costs of hosting tourists and maintaining tourism-related amenities, without placing an additional tax burden on local residents.

Municipal Services Corporation

A Municipal Services Corporation is a corporation that is established by a municipality or by a municipality and one or more other public sector entities and whose purpose is to provide a system, service, or thing that the municipality itself could provide.

Under Ontario Regulation 435/17 (Transient Accommodation Tax) of the Municipal Act 2001 (Ontario), the City must share a minimum of 50% of MAT revenues (less the City’s reasonable costs of collecting and administering the tax) with an entity that is designated as an Eligible Tourism Entity.

As of 2024, Pickering does not have an Eligible Tourism Entity as mandated by Ontario Regulation 435/17. Therefore, the City proposes to establish a Municipal Services Corporation named ‘Destination Pickering’ to serve as the Eligible Tourism Entity in Pickering.

The mandate of the Corporation (serving as the Eligible Tourism Entity in Pickering) will be the promotion of tourism in alignment with Pickering’s Community Visitor Plan.

The benefits of establishing an MSC extends beyond that of tourism development, as they often conduct business in a manner that meets the private sector requirement of timely, efficient, and effective decision making.

Section 8 of O.Reg. 599/06 requires a municipality to consult with the public about the proposal to establish a MSC.

Get involved

We are seeking the public’s feedback on the City's proposal to establish a Municipal Services Corporation named 'Destination Pickering' to serve as the Eligible Tourism Entity in Pickering. Please share your thoughts and comments to ensure that the creation of a Municipal Services Corporation aligns with the needs and expectations of the community.