JG Francoeur Weighs in on Peterborough’s Major Housing Crisis

Global News investigative reporter Noor Ibrahim recently reached out to REIN CGO JG Francoeur for his thoughts on Peterborough’s housing shortage, which is making it difficult for students, low income earners and the elderly to secure apartments in the City of Peterborough.

While there are a lot of students looking for housing in Peterborough, there is a large discrepancy between what they are willing to pay and what landlords will accept.

According to JG, Ontario’s lengthy and costly eviction process is also a major contributor to the problem. “If something goes wrong, it’s a $5,000 to $10,000 process to evict anyone,” he says.

Additionally, it can take three to five months to evict a tenant in Ontario, as opposed to only one month in other provinces. For this reason, many Peterborough landlords are simply not willing to take a chance on students.

The question JG is focused on is “how can we help make this better” and the answer, in his opinion, lies within the working relationship between the city and real estate investors. A follow up story is currently in the works by Global News, which will be published and released shortly.

Click here to watch the full video.