Pricey cottage rentals may be making labour shortages worse in Ontario beach towns

Some businesses in Ontario beach towns are struggling to hire low-wage staff as the summer draws near — underscoring a struggle in lakeside communities across the province where there aren't enough workers to fill open positions and meet rising customer demand. 

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce published a report last December looking at the state of the province's tourism industry. The report suggested 69 per cent of tourist businesses reported having challenges recruiting and retaining workers. 

In Grand Bend, the signs of a simmering labour crisis literally hang in shop windows in the form of "help wanted" signs along the main strip, with businesses in a race against time to hire enough workers before this May Victoria Day long weekend, widely considered the unofficial start of summer in Canada and the beginning of the busy summer tourist season. 

Business owners say the acute shortage of workers has been exacerbated by high rents for seasonal accommodations, driven ever skyward by soaring demand for lakeside real estate.

The town's aging stock of ramshackle cottages, favoured by seasonal workers for their cheap rents, are being scooped up in ever-greater numbers by investors intent on converting them into trendy, new short-term rentals. 

"It's very hard to find help right now," said Baja Beach Bar owner Rich Donomme, who is struggling to find enough cooks and servers for his busy kitchen ahead of the summer boom. 

WATCH | Bar owner Rich Donomme speaks about struggles of getting part-time help:

"You're looking for people who are here for the summer, who are basically looking for a part-time job." 

The problem, he said, is many of his prospective workers can't afford to live in town where a cottage can go for up to $2,500 a weekend on short-term rental websites such as VRBO and Airbnb. 

"You always see people looking for a place," he said. "A lot of the cottages are expensive during peak season."

The Municipality of Lambton Shores, which includes the beach-side communities of Grand Bend, Port Franks and Ipperwash, was among the first in Ontario to clamp down on short-term rentals, which had quickly grown out of control. 

Alex Boughen, manager of licensing and communications for Lambton Shores, told CBC News on Monday there were at least 315 short-term rental properties licensed by the municipality last year, with another 50 to 60 currently going through the application process. 

There is wide agreement in the community that while short-term rentals are a lucrative source of revenue for the town, they're also one of the community's largest sources of tribulations, according to a survey.

In the online poll, conducted by the municipality in 2021, more than half of respondents said they recognized short-term rentals bring economic value to the community, while about the same number also said those rental properties are a nuisance, in the form of noise, garbage and safety issues.