Muskoka hospital worker resorted to sleeping in a tent with no housing available
A lack of available housing in Muskoka has made the cottage country move for a local health care worker a living nightmare.
Andries Huygens has relied on short-term rentals and camping since moving to Bracebridge to start a new job as a laboratory technologist at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare this summer.
Initially giving himself six weeks to find a permanent residence, Huygens said he was surprised to find such little housing supply and even fewer landlords willing to call back.
"I've been able to sign a lease for a place five months later, but I'm still not in the place that I'm going to live, still not in permanent housing as of this moment," Huygens said. "Unexpected renovations at the home has kept me from moving in."
Huygens stored his belongings in storage units across five different cities since moving from the GTA.
"I can't even get my winter jacket, that's stored in Barrie," he added. "Finding a home has been really depressing, to be honest."
The struggles with housing that Huygens' is in have been plaguing the hospital's ability to recruit.
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare said it has 100 vacancies to fill, with 40 per cent full-time positions.
"Convincing recruits that Muskoka is a great place to live isn't the challenge. It's ensuring that they will actually have a home that makes it difficult," said Brody Purser, Associate Vice President of People Services at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. "I really think it's important that we focus on creating transitional housing, getting people to come up, to be able to transition."
The hospital has created the Housing for Healthcare program to help potential recruits find suitable accommodation. The hospital can find leads for workers seeking a permanent home through its regional partners, but more is needed.
"Ninety-two vacancies today over the next two to three years will become 300 vacancies," said Norm Barrette, health services commissioner at the District Municipality of Muskoka. "Even if we hired 10 more people in our Human Resources department focused solely on recruiting our hard-to-fill positions, we still won't get ahead because there are just not attainable housing options."
Registered nurses, PSWs and early childhood educators are just some of the other positions the district is having difficulties filling.
"Right now, we're using staffing agencies from the GTA to provide backfill for positions and putting workers in hotels overnight," Barrette added. "It isn't sustainable. It is very much short-term."
Barrette added that the district is exploring all options through its regional and provincial government partners.
In a statement to CTV News, Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Graydon Smith wrote, "Communities throughout Parry Sound-Muskoka, like all of Ontario, are experiencing a housing supply crisis that is leaving people unable to access affordably priced homes. This issue is impacting the livability of our communities as it's increasingly difficult to attract and retain critical workers like healthcare professionals.
The only way to fix the problem is to build more homes and rebalance the supply and demand dynamic in the housing sector. This is why our government is taking decisive action to ensure Ontario builds 1.5 million new homes, 10,000 of which will be in Parry Sound and Muskoka, over the next 10 years."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.