A widening gulf between the cost of rent or mortgage payments and the paycheques of Ontario residents is putting shelter out of reach for many. This housing crisis has hit individuals already disadvantaged much harder. To mark National Housing Day on Nov. 22, Shelter from the Storm, a Metroland news series, explores deepening cracks in the foundation and amplifies the voices of those often left out of the conversation. Reporters speak to racialized people, individuals living with disabilities, seniors and the LGBTQ2S+ community to learn what it really takes to put a roof over their heads.
Bianca Metz has fully embraced tiny home living.
Metz operates Giving Tree Consulting in Dundas and works with municipalities to create bylaws to allow tiny homes.
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She also hosts a Tiny Home Show, a sustainable spaces and small homes expo near Hamilton and her company also builds tiny homes.
Metz, her husband and her son have been living in a 240 square-foot house for seven years. They had been living in a condo that was costing them more than $4,000 a month but desired more financial freedom.
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“Most people are living paycheque to paycheque in their 20s. We were of a similar situation,” she said.
After her son was born prematurely, it changed her outlook on what was important.
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“That experience really transformed how I approached the world, how I value success,” she said. “That was another reason why we saw downsizing into a tiny home as an ideal lifestyle.”
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They purchased their home for $60,000 and lease a portion of a property as an additional dwelling unit.
“It was a really seamless transition,” she said. “We had to live in a space for a while before we realized how to use it.”
About six years ago, Metz started her business in an effort to allow more people to see the benefits of tiny homes.
“Tiny homes and smaller units can definitely provide shelter. They can help with the unhoused, create communities in which you have more of these transitional opportunities,” she said.
Metz said larger, well-constructed tiny homes, can also help the “missing middle.”
“They can afford to buy a home buy they can’t afford to enter the market because that cost is too high,” she said.
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She said this could be a young couple looking to enter the housing market or an older adult looking to downsize.
Thom Vincent is the owner of Attimo Homes, a company he started to sell tiny and modular homes. A Collingwood-based developer, Vincent said he’s had more than 500 people check out model tiny homes for sale in Collingwood.
His company also works with the municipalities to get the approvals.
Vincent said the reason there aren’t more tiny homes is because it takes too long to get approvals.
“We can expedite the ability to install it, the planning exercise is huge,” he said. “It’s taking months when it should only take weeks or less.”
Vincent said he’s submitted information to the province to help get things approved more quickly.
“They need to cut all this red tape,” he said. “It slows the whole process down. If an individual wants to go through the process, it is daunting. We just want to make it easier for people because we’re trying to help solve a problem out there in the marketplace.”
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Tiny homes are permitted in many municipalities in Simcoe County. In the city of Barrie, tiny homes are approved as additional dwelling units. Additional residential units may be located within the principal building or within an accessory building or structure on the same lot.
In Orillia, a maximum of two tiny homes would be permitted on a single residential lot. One tiny home could be the main dwelling, and another tiny home could be the detached accessory dwelling unit. The minimum size of a dwelling unit in the city is regulated by the Ontario Building Code minimum size.
Metz said her company worked with the Town of Kincardine on inclusive zoning that would allow smaller units of 10 or more on smaller lots.
In developing the policy, Metz said they looked at the zoning bylaws governing mobile home communities and trailer parks.
“It all comes down to zoning,” she said.
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