Cambridge appears to have become a hot spot for rooming houses as rents continue to rise, housing supply remains static and people desperate for affordable housing lower their standards.
But those living in the neighbourhoods where rooming houses are cropping up say they come at a cost.
Richard Campbell lives on Wade Green Road in the Clemens Mill neighbourhood and describes a near disaster that would have devastated the community.
He says a rooming house on his street caught fire recently due to someone smoking in bed, prompting a quick evacuation of the home.
"The investigator stated that there were eight beds which by his guidelines meant a minimum of eight people," Campbell says.
"The fire started due to careless smoking in bed. The bed in question happened to be in the garage, which was apparently the bedroom for that tenant."
He adds that when fire crews responded to the blaze, an illegally parked car hampered rescue efforts.
In the months before the incident, Campbell says he and other residents from his street emailed and called bylaw, but claims their efforts were ignored.
"We only once ever saw a car ticketed. It was fortunate that only this one vehicle was blocking access during the fire and that there were no injuries."
Not only is it against city bylaw and fire code to have that many people living inside one unit, it is also dangerous, say neighbours.
According to Cambridge bylaw, the number of people allowed to live in a dwelling is based on two people per bedroom. So, in a three-bedroom house, only six people would be permitted occupancy.
A quick search on Facebook Marketplace shows some of these shared rooms going in Cambridge for $400-$700 a month.
Cambridge isn't alone in dealing with overcrowded homes, usually single-family houses sheltering up to 15 people.
The City of Brampton went as far as requiring landlords to obtain a license to rent their properties to try and discourage bad actors and hold them accountable with bigger fines.
Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the situation, but others say bylaw and the fire department are often left powerless to enforce city bylaws and hold property owners accountable for bad practices.
Chief fire prevention officer John Percy says that when they get a call about an unsafe house, they always visit the home to perform an inspection.
Fire crews are usually looking to make sure there are enough fire alarms, but if they see anything else they have to forward their concerns to city bylaw, he says.
"The challenge that we have is the provincial fire code. There are limitations of what we can enforce," Percy adds. "All we can do as a fire department in the City of Cambridge is enforce what the fire code's telling you."
On the city's radar for nearly a year has been a commercial property at 200 Dundas St., which the city admitted is illegally housing individuals.
This property was not zoned for residential use, but the property owner knowingly rented to these individuals without disclosing that their units were not legal dwellings.
Cambridge bylaw did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
The head of bylaw for the City of Cambridge, John Mattocks, previously told CambridgeToday that all the city can do is notify the property owner they are in violation and serve them a deadline to comply.
As far as consequences for any alleged misdoings, Mattocks said the city is only responsible for issuing a court summons if the property owner fails to comply.
"The only course of action we could take is a summons to court. It's a form of a charge that we would summon the property owner to court and the case would be heard in front of a justice of the peace," he added.
As of the publication of this article, residents are still living at 200 Dundas St.
Cass Lees, who lives across the street from a house on Beasley Crescent, near Shade's Mills, claims it has around 10 or more people living in it.
"We've been living here for years and it's only getting worse," Lees says.
"The owners renovated the house and then they took off and just packed the house full of people. It's not safe and it's causing major problems here in the area."
Lees adds that the residents of the house take up a lot of space on the street, often parking illegally and blocking driveways.
"A lot of the families have small children and people are constantly on the street," Lees says. "They're filming the cars that drive by, or the neighbours, and they're peeking into backyards. There's just a lack of respect and I feel like no boundaries."
Residents have been notifying Nicholas Ermeta so frequently, the Ward 6 councillor says the complaints don't stop.
"I'm getting pretty overwhelmed with neighbourhood concerns on this and for a legitimate reason; this situation is a mess," Ermeta wrote in an emailed response to CambridgeToday. "Some feel their privacy is violated and this would need to be investigated further."
Ermeta has promised a public meeting with residents and members of city staff to address their concerns and what the city can do going forward.
There is no date for the meeting yet, but Lees isn't confident in the city's ability to solve the issue.
"We complain and complain and then they promise they will look into it and we never hear back," Lees says. "I hope that it doesn't take someone to die for something to get done."
Percy wants the community to know that if they see something that is concerning to them or is dangerous to file a formal complaint with the city.
"We will inspect the property and we will work with the bylaw and the building departments to push it to the next step in the process when we are made aware of these," he said. "We can't go in unless we receive a complaint first."
