Watch this before buying land on Manitoulin Island Unorganized Townships. $25,000 Fines?

Dreaming about self building a low budget home on Manitoulin Island?
We started a self built in the Dawson Township - Manitoulin Island in 2021.
The Dawson Township has a planning board that you will need comply with. We have had an unexpected experience in the Dawson Township which is technically unorganized.
The planning board rules can be applied based on complaints and not enforced on every land owners property. Just view hwy 540 to Meldrum Bay in google maps street view, and you can see the rural landscapes.

We first applied for a letter of compliance to self build our home after purchasing the land and followed the rules that had been published in the bylaw. The bylaw stated a temporary eating and sleeping quarters could be placed on the property. In addition, the bylaw also permitted a temporary tool shed as of 2021.
We placed a 27foot 5th wheel trailer in the drive way for eating and sleeping, as well as a constructed temporary tool shed.
Did I mention we are in a rural forested area?
We had a bylaw officer post non compliance letters on our property before we even broke ground.
The planning board simply wanted the 27ft trailer gone, with no path forward. This put our self built home at risk. I would caution anyone to choose a build site wisely. You could be in for a living hell if someone from the community decides they don't like what your doing in their community and weaponizes the Manitoulin planning board.

We had to ignore the planning board and endure more non compliance letters with many sleepless nights with threats of fines.

I decided to attend a few local Dawson township meetings to get an idea of what might be going on in the community. What I finally learned was disturbing.

We sold the 5th wheel trailer in the fall of 2024, and happy to see it gone. The memory of a Manitoulin Planning Board bylaw officer tracking us down in the bush will remain however.

We do not want to encourage anyone to follow our build path, therefore I have removed the build videos from YouTube. There are many unorganized townships in Northern Ontario that accept new comers in the communities.

Best of luck building your own affordable home in Canada.
Keep it simple.
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The Doug Ford Government granted the Manitoulin Planning Board power to fine property owners who do no comply with their rules. The rules can and are being applied based on complaints and not enforced on every land owners property.

The Manitoulin Planning Board was created by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing under the planning act. http://www.manitoulinplanning.ca/
Contacts to raise your concerns or complaints:
1)MPP Paul Calandra - Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-...
2)MPP Bill Rosenberg - [email protected]
https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-...
3) Doug Ford - https://correspondence.premier.gov.on...