Encampments now part of the 'fabric' of London and other cities, city hall says

City staff are predicting another summer of encampments in public parks and along the Thames River.

During a committee meeting on Tuesday, council was told that the decline in encampments witnessed this winter won’t be sustained as the weather improves.

“We went into the winter with over 100 active encampments. We currently have over 40 active encampments [and] we are anticipating those numbers to increase,” admitted Deputy City Manager of Social and Health Development Kevin Dickins.

In 2023, there were 3,527 responses to encampment complaints in London.

Brenda Smith-Huie lives near a frequent encampment site in SOHO.

“We do need to have some issues solved here, because it’s just getting worse and worse and worse,” she told CTV News London. “The garbage is ridiculous.”

Dickins told council to expect some of the more successful strategies to return from last summer, including service depots that bring basic needs like water and food directly to people living in encampments.

At the same time, work is underway on the city's new Encampment Strategy due before council in June.

The strategy is still under development, but currently has four draft pillars:

• Transactional outreach
• Weather impacts
• Encampment protocols
• Pathways to housing

“The Encampment Strategy is a long-term vision for our community on how we address encampments,” explained Dickins. “[Encampments] are here to stay. They are the fabric of every municipality now. What is our strategy to support them and address them?”

It’s a question neighbours want answered soon.

“I feel bad for the homeless. It’s not their issue, it’s a city issue and we need to clean it up,” said Smith-Huie.

By the end of last year, there were an estimated 1,700 to 2,100 Londoners experiencing homelessness — approximately 600 of whom are considered to have high needs.