The City of Lambton Shores is the latest to consider stricter regulations for the coastal communities of Port Franks, Ipperwash and Grand Bend, when the council considered a bill on Tuesday for short-term rental licensing, setting a maximum capacity of 10 people. per house and set up a 24/7 hotline for locals to report bullying parties. Port Stanley, a coastal town on Lake Erie in Central Elgin, is also considering a statute and recently voted 4-3 to look into the matter, hoping a licensing system will be in place next year. . “For me, we had to fix it,” said Mayor Sally Martyn, noting that most homes for sale in the city are often covered by out-of-town investors who want to turn them into short-term rentals. “It’s a real problem at Port Stanley.”

Preventive medicine

Others, such as the city of Goderich, weigh their choices. “Canada’s Most Beautiful City” has only about 30 short-term rentals, but as they grow in number, it is becoming clear to some that they can affect more than just real estate prices. While it may have industry all year round, such as the city’s salt mine as seen here, with a slogan like “Canada’s most beautiful city”, Goderich receives many tourists. Thus, the city council considers the regulation of short-term leases before they become a problem. (Colin Butler / CBC)
“We must be careful not to erode this rural fabric and the rural neighborhoods we have had for centuries,” said Goderich Mayor John Grace. With factories, a courthouse and the largest salt mine on Earth, Goderich is much more than just a tourist town. The 7,600 residents of Goderich live there all year round and worry that if enough community homes are bought by absent landlords who take advantage of short-term rentals, it would change the centuries-old tradition of helping neighbors keep the community together. We need to make sure he does not occupy our neighborhoods.- Mayor Goderich John Grace
“We have to handle it, we have to manage it and we have to make sure it does not occupy our neighborhoods.” The Municipality of South Bruce Peninsula, a collection of coastal towns about an hour and a half northeast of Georgia Bay Coast, learned this lesson the hard way.

“Every country town has this problem”

The community – which includes the lakeside towns of Red Bay, Mallory Beach and Sauble – paid short-term rentals in January 2021, setting up a licensing system, a 24-hour hotline to list party houses and a “three strike” and you’re out “system to keep absent owners in line with neighbors’ expectations. A little girl is playing on a beach in Sauble Beach, Ont., Where municipal officials estimate that up to 15 percent of private homes are short-term rentals. (Colin Butler / CBC News)
If they do not, they may lose their license and face fines of up to $ 500 a day, according to Mayor Janice Jackson, who said the delivery of the cottage to the community has gained new momentum with Ontario housing funding. . “We are not involved. Parties and people who do not care about our community are not welcome here. “We’re getting more and more complaints from the community where their neighbor sold their place and now the party house is next door, and it’s just heartbreaking to hear some of the stories. “We get people buying houses invisible.” Jackson said her estimated short-term rentals now account for up to 15 percent of all private housing in her community, which has had a significant impact on the community, turning otherwise residential neighborhoods into tourist areas. “Every country town is facing this problem and COVID has really exacerbated this issue. So we had to do something. “If this continues, we will reach a point, maybe five years from now, where we will have an equal amount of rental property to our permanent residents,” Jackson said. “This will erode the fabric of the community, there is no doubt.” Jackson said the pandemic and rising housing brought so many visitors and outside investors to the city that something had to be done to balance things out.
“We want people to come here and enjoy the South Bruce Peninsula, because it’s beautiful here, but you have to respect your neighbors. We have too many people coming in and they just don’t respect our neighbors.”