Midland chose to lend its voice to the chorus of municipalities calling on the province to tighten up definitions on what ‘floating homes’ are, in light of housing issues across the region.
At the recent meeting of council, Mayor Bill Gordon pitched a boilerplate concern from water-adjacent municipalities wanting the ability to regulate structures that are moored off-shore but used as housing alternatives.
“Because we are a bay community with people who pay a lot of taxes who live on the waterfront, this is something that’s within the realm of possibility to become a problem within our community,” said Gordon at the meeting.
Gordon provided an anecdote where a boat set anchor outside Gawley Park this summer, causing residents to call him on the matter.
“People are taking these barges or whatever and turning them into their home – it’s not a boat, even though it might have got there with a 9.9 in the back of the 50-footer – and they just drop anchor and put a web of lines down, and live right in front of people’s waterfront homes.”
Effective July 1, Ontario Regulation 161/17 was amended to clarify that floating accommodations, such as sea-cans and similar transport containers, "cannot be placed or used for outdoor accommodation or camping purposes on public land covered by water."
The issue of floating accommodations had also been addressed within Tiny Township this past summer, while the Township of Georgian Bay had deemed floating dwelling units illegal through zoning bylaws in 2022.
Gordon’s notice of motion aimed to encourage council in signing onto a call for higher tiers of government to update regulations Canada-wide so that float homes – not connected to municipal services – will not be considered vessels, such that provincial and municipal regulations could be applied.
Coun. Bill Meridis questioned whether approving the request would legitimize those float homes as regulated items provided proper procedures were followed, but was assured by Gordon that the motion was merely to join a call for support along with other municipalities.
The motion was carried unanimously, with the request to be sent to Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez, as well as Simcoe North MP Adam Chambers and MPP Jill Dunlop.
The full wording for the motion regarding float homes is available in the council agenda on the town of Midland website.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
