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City council votes yes to fund homeless encampment 'service depots'

As London faces an escalating homelessness crisis, the plan to ramp up emergency response supports with four encampment service depots was moved forward by city council at a meeting Tuesday evening. 

Temporary response is designed to alleviate suffering and reduce community impacts, city says

CBC News ·
The problem of homelessness has become so pervasive in London, Ont., that dozens of homeless colonies line the Thames Valley Parkway in the greenspaces close to downtown.
The problem of homelessness has become so pervasive in London, Ont., that dozens of homeless colonies line the Thames Valley Parkway in the greenspaces close to downtown. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

London city council is moving ahead with a plan to create four service depots for homeless populations in the downtown core. 

As London faces an escalating homelessness crisis, the plan to ramp up emergency response supports was pushed forward by city council at a meeting Tuesday evening. 

City council approved additional funding for temporary mobile depots which will provide basic services such as portable toilets, sanitation facilities, drinking water, food, social supports and garbage collection at four locations in the downtown core near the Thames River. 

There will also be safety resources and checks to ensure fire safety and personal safety of residents including access to the overdose prevention drug Naloxone. 

The on-site services will be offered 90 minutes a day, seven days-a-week at each location, the city said in a statement.

At last count, London, had 45 campsites in various places along the Thames River, occupied by people without a home, said Mayor Josh Morgan. The strategy is short-term at six- to eight-weeks.

Here's how Mayor Josh Morgan describes London's plan for encampments

1 year ago
Duration 0:56
The mayor says the status quo can't continue. He's supporting a plan to offer what he calls short term help for people living in camps along the Thames River and in parks. Hear his vision for what comes next.

Ward 13 councillor David Ferreira said he is a "big proponent" for the initiative. The encampment response is temporary — and should be, he said.

"I don't want to see anyone in encampments just like everyone here doesn't. We want housing. But we don't have housing right now. We don't have that capacity. We need to build that." 

Some councillors who spoke at the meeting said they've heard safety concerns from residents. Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis said those concerns are filling his email inbox. 

"I get it that people are upset. I get it that people are feeling unsafe. I see it in my own neighbourhood," Lewis said. "I absolutely understand. What I don't have is a better answer than what we are doing in the short term." 

The service depots are set to be located along the Thames River at: 

  • Ann Street Park (West of Talbot Street, south of Oxford Street). 
  • Cavendish Park (south of Riverside Drive west of Wharncliffe Road)
  • Wellington Valley Park (south of Nelson Street in SoHo). 
  • Watson Street Park (south of the river, just east of Wellington Street).
To fund the initiative, the council approved an additional $100,000 to London Cares and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) to execute the plan. An extra $255,000 from the City's reserve fund was also approved to help fund the encampment response.

"If the situation does not get better through this process, we'll adjust it," said Morgan. "We're not going to blindly move forward with something that is not working."

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