Why this shipping container home is making waves in Ontario cottage country

Anchored at the Severn marina in southern Ontario's cottage country are two 53-foot long container ships. They're the home of Joe Nimens — and the model for the year-round floating cottages he'd like to construct.

"It's our prototype and it's starting to look nice on the inside," said Nimens, speaking to CBC from inside the floating cottage.

"It's not nice-looking on the outside because we aren't done yet," he said. "And we had to start somewhere."

Nimens says construction began a little more than two years ago, and he moved in shortly after. He pulled the structure onto the water for the first time about 18 months ago.

But the structure is drawing the ire of some local residents in this community about 160 kilometres north of Toronto, who are voicing concerns about the safety of having the floating structures in the waterways and their effect on the environment. At issue is also the fact that the container ship home is designated a "vessels" by Transport Canada, which means the structure isn't governed by the Ontario building code or permits and, as such, isn't subject to municipal zonings — meaning there is little local governments can actually do to regulate them.

 Nimens maintains he's not violating any rules.

He's now manufacturing four floating homes for sale — and says he's pressing on with a plan to construct more.

Unlike houseboats, which have motors and can self-navigate through bodies of water, these floating container ships cannot move on their own and must be towed — some residents told CBC is a safety concern of theirs. 

They're also different from other floating homes that are permanently moored to a marina and attached to a septic system and other utilities.

Peter Koetsier, mayor of the adjacent Township of Georgian Bay, says he's been hearing "a great deal of concern" from his local residents about the structures.

Those concerns, he says, range from the environmental impact if the styrofoam, which lines the bottom of Nimens's home, degrades to the wastewater management of the structures.

"They are very concerned about water quality, including the flotation that is breaking up …. We're concerned about grey water and black water. We're concerned about their use of the lands and the areas around us without following any of the rules," Koetsier told CBC Toronto.

Nimen's floating cottage has spuds, large steel posts that drop down and anchor it to the lake bottom when it's out on the water. As a vessel, it's allowed to anchor on Crown land free for up to 21 days.

Koetsier says he's heard concerns about potential damage to the lake beds. While lake bottoms are managed by the province, in his township, specifically, zoning bylaws give it the authority to restrict what people can build on the lake bottom — for example, docks or boathouses.