Leamington extends boarding house improvements for growers

Windsor, Ont. -

The Municipality of Leamington is offering an extension to greenhouse growers who house seasonal agri-farm workers in boarding homes.

Accommodations must be retrofit to comply with boarding house provisions of the building and fire code by March 15.

A building permit must be obtained.

Inspections and work must be completed by that date as well.

The regulations are an effort to make housing safer for temporary foreign workers.

Property owners were to have their places inspected before last November, but some growers say they were unaware of the deadline.

“There are a number of farm operations who are up against the wall and won’t be able to bring in labour which will be a detriment to this area if the industry is short for labour, which really quite honestly already are,” says councillor Paul Tiessen.

“They’ll be forced to buy more houses and we can’t afford more houses being bought up for that purpose.”

The municipality says the area is currently facing a housing crisis and if the deadline was not extended, growers would’ve had to make additional accommodations.