"We've seen very directly thousands of formerly full-time short-term rentals leave the short-term rental market," Wachsmuth said in an interview with CBC's The Early Edition on Wednesday.

But it's still unclear what happens to these units after they are removed from the STR listings.

Wachsmuth said researchers and policymakers will have to wait for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to release its annual data in order to see the rules' exact impact on vacancy rates and the number of long-term rentals.