King-Victoria Transit Hub

[Bob_McBob]

Didn’t the region work with agencies to convert the old comfort inn in Waterloo as well as the tiny home community at the paramedic headquarters site since the encampment was first becoming an issue. In some cases the residents of the adhoc communities choose to not want to go into the structured communities due to certain rules and conditions that must be followed. So I wouldn’t go and say that nothing has been done. Is it enough, no, but it’s a start. The systematic problems really should be covered by the levels of government that provide health and social assistance rather than the level of government that is responsible for our physical infrastructure rather than our social infrastructure.

The "tiny home community" is the Erb's Rd shelter I mentioned. It's been at full capacity since before it opened in April 2023, and the region has no plans to expand it or build more. Many of the original encampment residents live there now. Contrary to popular belief, only 7 residents between the two large encampments on Victoria St and Roos Island declined alternate housing offers in 2022. The region is not making similar offers to current residents, and planned to evict some of them without offering anything at all.

These people aren't rejecting stable long-term housing, they're rejecting options that require them to give up their possessions, pets, be separated from spouses, etc. without even a guarantee they'll have a bed to sleep in every night. And with respect to "rules", the Erb's Rd shelter, A Better Tent City, ShelterCare (the Comfort Inn location), etc. do not require abstinence from residents or prohibit alcohol and substance use.

The Region has given assurances of alternate shelter to only those Cross- Applicants/Named Respondents (“Named Respondents”) who are among 40 persons it counted as present at the Encampment on April 16, 2025. However, this shelter is, for the most part, temporary motel or emergency shelter space, and the Region has made no provision for where persons may go if/when they lose these spaces. It has offered nothing to most of the Named Respondents, who are not among the counted 40, other than to “bring them within the Region’s housing stability system” - effectively, adding them to the waitlists they are already on.