Toronto opted for speed over people in clearing encampments last summer: Ombudsman

A final report by Toronto’s Ombudsman says the City showed “significant unfairness” when it set about to clear several encampments in the summer of 2021.

Ombudsman Kwame Addo says while many City staff care about people experiencing homelessness, the City chose speed over people and failed to live up to its stated commitments to fairness and a human rights-based approach to housing.

“Encampments and supporting the people living in them are complex,” Addo says in his final report released Friday. “But the City owes a particularly high duty of fairness to these residents.”

Homeless encampments began popping up across Toronto in March 2020 as hundreds fled shelters for fear of contracting COVID-19.

By late 2020, there were more than 50 encampments across Toronto, documents obtained by activists through freedom-of-information laws, showed.

The City, along with police officers, cleared out encampments at multiple parks in July 2021 including at Lamport Stadium, Alexandra Park and Trinity Bellwoods Park where they were met with large crowds.

At Lamport Stadium and Trinity Bellwoods, violent clashes broke out between police and the supporters of those in the encampments and a total of 26 people were arrested.

It was later revealed the City had spent months planning the encampment clearings, even building resident profiles, and spent nearly $2 million on the actions.

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Addo’s report found the City treated encampments as a top priority when there was no evidence suggesting they required that level of urgency, and it chose to clear the encampments quickly instead of focusing on the needs of the people living in them.

He also found that communication with the people living in those encampments was both confusing and lacked transparency and that the City did not encourage meaningful engagement with people living in the encampments.

Along with the eight recommendations from his interim report last July, Addo made an additional 23 recommendations in his final report including, prioritizing the needs of those living in the encampment if it determines it is necessary to move them out; a detailed plan on how to support access to physical and mental health services for those living in encampments; and creating a strategy for engaging with people living in encampments, including specific strategies for Indigenous communities, as well as racialized and equity-deserving groups.

Addo acknowledges the issue of encampments is a complex issue and that it is “unrealistic to expect the City to solve the housing crisis on its own.”

“However, the City is responsible for treating its residents fairly, especially those experiencing housing precarity and homelessness.”

In a statement the City says it accepts the recommendations of the final report, but did not respond to specific criticisms of its handling of the encampment clearings. It added it is committed to the use of a people-first, client-centred approach to help connect those living in encampments with services including shelter and housing.

“The City cannot force people to come inside and use the many services offered in shelters but it continues to encourage people to accept offers of shelter and housing options.”

“As noted, the City is committed to ensuring a Housing First approach but the rate of those entering homelessness continues to increase. New and enhanced investments are urgently needed from the Government of Canada and Province of Ontario to complement City investments and increase the supply of deeply affordable rental housing with supports that include harm reduction and mental health supports.”