As snowbirds head south a hidden economy rises up
House and pet sitters swing into action to serve sun-seekers
Larissa Novak’s vacation plans include watering plants, bringing in mail and flushing toilets. Not hers, mind you. Novak takes care of vacant homes and stay-behind pets while their owners chase the southern sun.
“They have fun, I have work,” said Larissa Novak of Kingsway K9 & Kitty in Etobicoke. It is peak travel season. Last winter, Air Transat flew 1.7 million travellers from Pearson International Airport between November and April on their way to Mexico and the Caribbean.
During the same span, WestJet flies about 130,000 sun vacationers from Pearson each month, while Sunwing had 28,000 Toronto-area vacationers on this past Christmas Day alone.
That’s in addition to the more than one million Canadian retirees who spend at least 31 days in the U.S. each year, according to the Canadian Snowbird Association.
A whole economy of pet sitters and snow shovellers has risen up to serve short- and long-term winter travellers.
Novak does more than feed live crickets to pet iguanas starting at $20 a visit.
“I also sweep off the snow on the parked cars in driveways to make it look more lived in. A car piled up with snow is a sure sign for a thief,” said Novak, who this holiday season for the first time in decadescut her workload down to five Kingsway mansions with cats.
The owners go to Florida or Mexico, where they have second homes, or to Alberta to visit grandchildren.
Some insurance policies require house checks every 48 to 72 hours while the owners are away.
In 30 years of home visits, Novak has encountered downed trees, unlocked doors, open windows, stovetop elements left on and, once, an angry trapped squirrel requiring animal control.
“You’re paying for peace of mind,” said Etobicoke landscaper Murray McConnell, who will care for 10 vacationers’ homes this winter.
The homes, which “range across the board of social status,” McConnell said, belong to longtime clients.
Some travel back and forth between Florida and Ontario for medical appointments or to see grandchildren.
Basic services such as snow removal and mail gathering run $100 a month.
(Snow birds can forward their mail via Canada Post for about $30 a month.)
One elderly couple head south the first week of November and return in April.
For them, McConnell also checks inside the home for water damage and starts their luxury car to maintain its battery, a package worth $200 a month.
Condo dwellers needn’t worry about snow removal while they’re on a beach.
Houseplants, though, are another story.
“All the people we used to pay killed our plants. Now we use our daughter, who we don’t have to pay but kill(s) them just the same,” said Brian Gold of Thornhill.
The yearly Caribbean cruiser doesn’t mind “because this way we get new fresh plants at least once a year.”
Vacationers sometimes send their pets on holiday, too.
Oakville’s Cat Castle is a feline hotel with sunny rooms and birdfeeders outside the windows to entertain guests.
Business at the boarding kennel spikes during Christmas break, March break, school summer holidays and long weekends, with rates from $27 to $49 a day.
A few cats stay for months, such as current guest Lola, whose snowbird owners get a long-term discount.
To bridge the distance, owners can rent Cat Cams at $4 a day.
“This way they have 24/7 video access to their kitty, as well as they can talk to them,” said manager Kylie Brezden.
After the owners come home, it’s back to normal for everyone — until summer vacations start.