Leamington council is trying to get a handle on the increasing number of homes being converted into boarding houses in the town for migrant workers.
A report from the Jones Consulting Group prepared for the municipality shows there are illegal boarding houses in the town and poor records of the number of registered accommodations.
The best estimate shows there are 328 boarding units to accommodate the more than 3,300 temporary agricultural workers in the town.
Single-detached homes are being converted to house workers while others are being put up in hotels and apartments.
Leamington councillor John Hammond says something needs to be done before tragedy strikes and provincial regulators move in. "The greenhouse industry may [screech] to a halt as a result of not having any living quarters for anybody in this town."
The report outlines some possible policy solutions, but doesn't have details on other issues like the costs to upgrade needed sanitary sewer expansions.
Deputy Mayor Hilda MacDonald says councillors need more information before approving new regulations. "We are inventing the wheel here because there's no other community like ours facing these kinds of issues so, it needs to be a slow, thoughtful process — still keeping in mind we'd like it done in a reasonable time frame," she says.
On Monday night, council voted to have administration look at costing and planning timelines to implement new regulations for boarding houses in the town.
The report is expected back within two months.