Life on the water: A glimpse into houseboat living year-round in Canada
Did you know a community of floating homes exists in Toronto? We visit one of the communities to find out what life on the water is like in Canada's biggest city.
It’s not a cottage up north or a condo downtown--it’s something uniquely in between, and unlike anything else you’ll find in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Dozens of people live in houseboats and floating homes along the Scarborough Bluffs yearlong, come rain, shine, snow, or anything else Mother Nature might throw at them.
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“It’s kind of a hidden gem,” says Kate Fincham, who lives on a 625-square-foot houseboat near the bluffs. “We have 25 floating homes along this dock, and about 20 houseboats year-round in the marina, as well as year-round boaters. It's just the best community of people.”
Fincham has been documenting her life on the water as @mylittlehouseboat for the past four years. She’s built up a substantial following with her dreamy, aspirational content––sunset kayaking, dockside dinners, [and] strolls with her two brave cats. But, she also regularly shares some of the challenges she faces as a float homeowner.
(Kate Fincham/Instagram @mylittlehouseboat)
“I moved here in the pandemic…and I went right into the wintertime,” she tells The Weather Network. “It was kind of a trial by fire, figuring out how to deal with things in the winter.”
But she did figure it out, and has since learned exactly how to weather-proof a floating home for all four seasons.
Winter
“It's not actually that much extra work, but it's a lot of care and maintenance,” says Fincham. “I do have bubblers. I have three that I string down on either side of my house and then on the water side deck. Those are like little underwater fans, and they keep the water moving and agitate it so that ice doesn't freeze," said Fincham.
“Everyone always says, 'how do you stay warm?' [Well,] that part is totally fine,” she says, noting that she has heat tracers on her pipes, a cozy wood stove, and in-wall electric heating. “I keep it nice and cozy, and warm in the winter. It's actually lovely.”
Snow can, at times, pose problems for members of the float home community, however.
(Kate Fincham/Instagram @mylittlehouseboat)
“When the snow is really thick and heavy, I will kind of shovel off all the decks and everything,” says Fincham. “We did have one really bad snowstorm last year [when] it kind of tipped over a few of the houseboats a little bit.”
Spring
“Just feeling life come back to the marina is so wonderful,” says Fincham of spring’s emergence in her corner of Toronto. “You know, seeing all the animals, the birds and the beavers building their dams.The boaters start to come back in the summer. We have such a lively time.”
Members of the community are ensconced by nature all year-round, but spring is a particularly busy time of year for wildlife encounters.
“We have a pair of swans who have kind of been here for [more than] 20 years at this point. They're kind of our resident swans,” she says. “They will come up to our decks and say hello, and in the springtime, when they have babies, they bring their babies as soon as they hatch. They're so proud of their little babies.”
(Kate Fincham/Instagram @mylittlehouseboat)
There are even some beavers living in the community--for better or for worse.
“The beavers, the raccoons and the otters, they can all chew through lines. We do have problems with our internet cables, intermittently, because they'll just chew through them,” Fincham laughs.”Last year, we had to put things all around all of our trees because [a beaver] single handedly deforested half of our little woods.”
Summer
Cooling is a literal breeze when you live on the water, according to Fincham, who has an air conditioner but rarely needs to use it.
“In the summertime, I really just have all the doors and windows open. It kind of cools the whole place,” she says. “Summer is wonderful. It's so nice to spend half my time on the water or on the top deck, and be able to go [kayaking] every single morning at sunrise.”
(Kate Fincham/Instagram @mylittlehouseboat)
When asked about any negatives of float home living during the warmer months, Fincham had trouble thinking of any. She did, however, note that there’s one year-round boat chore she particularly dislikes: “I have to pump out my septic tank. That’s not very fun.”
Fall
Autumn is another idyllic season filled with card game nights, group paddles, soup exchanges and more.
The biggest challenge for house boat owners during this season tends to be wind.
(Kate Fincham/Instagram @mylittlehouseboat)
“When the winds are heavy from the east, you know, we can rock a lot and swing side to side,” says Fincham. “[When] you know that that weather is coming in – and we check the weather religiously here – you check all your lines, make sure they're all fine. Your fenders, you may need to adjust… and just kind of get ready for it.
“I feel like it's, it's not as bad as you would think,” she continues. “You know, it can rock, and I get seasick maybe once every year. But it does happen. It definitely does. Sometimes with the rocking, you think, ‘oh, OK, I should go on land for a little bit.’”
'A whole, new world'
Still, despite the extra work that comes with her waterfront lifestyle, Fincham says she wouldn’t change it for the world.
“You know, it's such a different life down here. It just makes you feel much slower and much more calm just being in this environment,” she says. “I’ve made so many new friends and it's such a great community. It's kind of a whole, new world down here.”
When asked what advice she’d give to someone considering a similar move, Fincham had this to say:
“Be the sort of person who can roll with the punches. You know, it's not always going to be easy. It will be the best thing you probably ever do, but it also can be challenging at times, and I think you need to be the sort of person that can take the good and the bad, and just realize it's all part of the process.”
As for those who can’t realistically move to a house boat right now? They can live vicariously through Fincham’s Instagram.
“I started my Instagram because I couldn't find any information on houseboats when I moved down here––what to do, where people live. So I started it, and it's just been a really wonderful way to share my life with other people,” she says.
“I think it's like this dream of everyone's to move on a boat, so I think it's been really a great way for people to connect with nature and just see this alternate lifestyle. It’s not necessarily something they’d do themselves, but it's really cool for them to be able to live it in a way.”
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Thumbnail cortesy of Kate Fincham/Instagram @mylittlehouseboat.