Encampment court ruling has city councillors wondering what it could mean for northern Ontario cities

Clusters of tents in city parks, under bridges and even in parking lots have become more common and more contentious across Ontario cities, over the last few years. 

Cities like Sudbury and Timmins have evicted people living in encampments in public spaces. But a recent court ruling out of southern Ontario could change how this is handled in the future.

The case was brought to court by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, which sought to evict a homeless encampment of 40 to 70 tents in a gravel parking lot owned by the regional government near the Kitchener train station on the grounds the encampment posed a risk to the health and safety of its residents. 

On Friday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Michael Valente ruled that the Charter does not allow for eviction when the regional government's shelter system can't accommodate encampment residents' "diverse needs," including couples who do not wish to be separated and people managing addictions and/or mental and physical disabilities. 

The municipalities, we simply don't have the resources to deal with this on our own.— Angela Caputo, Sault Ste. Marie city councillor

For Angela Caputo, a city councillor in Sault Ste. Marie, the situation in Kitchener is all too familiar. She recalls a similar circumstance last year. 

"Our DSSAB (District Social Services Administration Board) sort of had to agree to find housing for these people until their housing was built because we're waiting on a shelter and all this stuff. And so we have experienced that here," Caputo said. 

Mark King is a city councillor in North Bay. He says there's "no doubt" the ruling will influence future situations. But the root of the encampment issue is affordable housing. 

"At this particular point, in Nipissing region, we're running at over $100,000 a month in hotel rooms alone, to basically house the unhoused. We need housing. That's the bottom line here," King said. 

The driving force

King said that while he was initially surprised by the ruling, he said it puts more pressure on the province and federal governments to take action and answer the needs that municipalities have in trying to address the situation. 

In this vein, King said he was recently at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference to meet with ministers on securing vital funding to support its Northern Pines facility, which would help to alleviate the city's housing crisis.

Northern Pines, located in the former Ontario Provincial Police building on Chippewa Street, will provide transitional housing for the homeless.

Caputo echoed King's sentiments and added that the province needs to invest more money to help municipalities in providing shelters and affordable housing. She said that beyond that, the province also needs to make a bigger investment into providing mental health supports for people who are struggling with housing and addictions, as the issues can be linked.  

"The municipalities, we simply don't have the resources to deal with this on our own," she said. 

"It would need to include wrap-around services. We could easily house people, the housing is not the issue. It's the services that surround them. A lot of times, if you just place someone in a home you're putting them still in a dangerous situation or a situation where they're not able to take care of themselves." 

"It's not just about the home. We need to plan services to assist these people in their struggles with mental health, with addictions. A lot of times they're the driving force behind the homelessness," Caputo said.