But a scroll through the Airbnb website suggests users are falsifying their permit numbers to sneak past the authentication process.
For example, CTV News found at least five listings by the same host containing the policy number 123456. These listings were for units in various locations.
Two Montreal Airbnb listings at distinct locations, ran by the same host but different co-hosts, list 123456 as their policy numbers. Multiple other listings by the host include this number as well.
In fact, Airbnb uses 123456 as an example when prompting prospective hosts to enter their policy numbers.
Airbnb uses the numer 123456 as an example when prompting Quebec users to enter their policy number.
In another instance, two separate establishments that appear to be run by different hosts shared the same registration number of 299398.
Cédric Dussault, spokesperson for Quebec housing advocacy group RCLALQ, said he's come across similar discrepancies on the platform.
"It's clear that there's no crosschecking whatsoever," he alleged in an interview with CTV News.
"There are some users that have a registration number for one location, but they are using the same one for various locations."
Quebec law requires each tourist establishment to have its own registration number. To get this number, applicants must share proof of compliance with municipal laws, photos of the residence, and proof of civil liability insurance.
Until recently, Airbnb didn't require users to input their permit numbers when creating a listing. As a result, many of the accommodations on the site were unregistered -- including a handful of units inside a building in Old Montreal.
On Tuesday, Airbnb removed all Quebec listings without a permit number from its platform.
But Dussault believes this move is a "PR operation."
"Don't be fooled by the public discourse by Airbnb, they perfectly know what they're doing," he alleged.
When asked whether a system was in place to confirm the validity of permit numbers, Airbnb said the responsibility lies with the Quebec government.
"The Province issues the CITQ [Corporation de l'industrie touristique du Quebec] number directly to Hosts, not Airbnb. As such, it's the Province's responsibility to enforce their legislation. We have offered the City Portal to the Province," reads a statement from the company.
The City Portal tool allows participating municipalities to "view Airbnb listings within their registration systems" and offers "tools to help enforce their laws," according to the Airbnb website.
Quebec's Tourism Ministry has yet to respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante's office responded that "firm respect for the law must be enforced on all platforms if we want to recover the illegal housing that deprives Montrealers of a home."
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should see to it that mass murderers serve their entire sentences in maximum-security prison.
The number of interactions between killer whales and humans has increased alarmingly in recent years. CTVNews.ca asked an expert to explain the reasons behind the increase in interactions, explore the types of encounters, and examine the implications for both humans and killer whales.
The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia's golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement Tuesday of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.
While the Liberals insist a Pacific Rim trade bloc should welcome anyone who meets its standards, an internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out.
The federal government has given an updated deal to a public-service union that signed its collective agreement in the fall in order to match deals reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada during a strike this spring.
Prince Harry entered a courtroom witness box Tuesday, swearing to tell the truth in testimony against a tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking and other unlawful snooping.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
The smell of smoke is in the air throughout the city of Toronto and could get worse before the week is over as wildfires continue to burn in Quebec and northern Ontario.
The actions of the teen who repeatedly slashed a North York massage parlour receptionist, killing her and injuring her manager, were an act of terrorism, an Ontario Supreme Court Justice found Monday in a 'historical' decision in Canada.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the correctional services commissioner to “step aside, step down, or [..] be fired” after moving serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison.
Hammonds Plains Road reopened to traffic early Tuesday morning more than week after wildfires began in the Halifax area. Officials say the fires in the area are contained, though crews continue to deal with hot spots and flare ups.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Marking the two year anniversary of the alleged terror attack that took the lives of four members of the same family, the board has announced an Anti-Islamophobia Strategy.
On this day in 2021, four out of five members of a London, Ont. family were killed while they were out for a walk and struck by a vehicle, in an apparently deliberate attack.
An investigation is underway after a crash between a car and a transport truck on Tuesday morning. It happened around 9 a.m. on Highbury Avenue near Ron McNeil Line, north of St. Thomas.
While firefighters get more forest fires under control in northern Ontario, travel restrictions declared under an emergency order are being expanded in several communities.
A 13-year-old male from Elliot Lake in northern Ontario has been charged with sexual assault again, bringing the total to 10, after another survivor came forward.
A grieving widow whose husband was run over and killed by a speeding OPP officer can't believe the force told her it won't hold a public hearing into the case because it decided the misconduct was 'not serious.'
Calgary-based Cenovus Energy says it has safely restarted a portion of its production that was shut down because of the threat of wildfires in northern and central Alberta.
Innisfail RCMP say an officer was attacked by the driver and passenger of a truck they'd stopped on suspicion of impaired driving on Saturday, but the accused's lawyer has a different story of the encounter.
The provincial wildfire service is warning British Columbians to have a go-bag and make an evacuation plan with this year's wildfire season off to an alarming start.
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
Police in Australia are investigating the suspicious death of a woman who used to live in Surrey, BC, after her body was found in her apartment on the outskirts of Sydney.
Mounties in the town of McLennan, Alta. are hoping members of the public can help them identify two men who tried to steal a bank machine from the local ATB Financial.
Mounties in Peace River Alta. are asking residents to check their "businesses, homes, sheds and outbuildings" for any sign of 13-year-old Rocky Conrad Cardinal.
It’s been 79 years since the war effort known as ‘D-Day,’ which eventually led to the liberation of western Europe during World War II. The day was marked with a service in Normandy with the Royal Regina Rifles on hand.
A special air quality statement remains in effect for the National Capital Region because of wildfire smoke blowing across the region. Environment Canada's air quality health index is at its highest level of risk.
The wildfire burning at Centennial Lake, about 150 km west of Ottawa is still not under control, but the local mayor says it has been significantly reduced.
The federal government has given an updated deal to a public-service union that signed its collective agreement in the fall in order to match deals reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada during a strike this spring.
While Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) publicly mulled moving its downtown emergency shelter to a location on 20th Street near the city's core, city documents reveal the wellness centre's present Fairhaven area location was heavily favoured early in the process.
Two Montreal Airbnb listings at distinct locations, ran by the same host but different co-hosts, list 123456 as their policy numbers. Multiple other listings by the host include this number as well. 
Airbnb uses the numer 123456 as an example when prompting Quebec users to enter their policy number. 
