Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is applauding the B.C. government’s new legislation restricting short-term accommodation rentals.

“This is a positive and important step in the right direction in an area of provincial jurisdiction,” Freeland said during a news conference on Tuesday.

She said Ottawa is examining how it can convert STRs into more long-term rental housing units. Her comments substantiated a Globe and Mail report that the feds want to limit STRs.

The B.C. crackdown on STR activity includes increasing violators’ fines to $3,000 from $1,000 per infraction per day. Freeland, federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser, provincial officials and local government leaders maintain that STR operators like Airbnb, VRBO and Expedia are taking thousands of long-term rental units off the market.

But Airbnb and the Conference Board of Canada maintain that STRs have not raised long-term rents and are not having a large impact on multi-residential housing supply.

Nathan Rotman, Airbnb’s Canadian leader, called for STRs to be regulated locally in a recent interview with Connect.