Group calls on province to reverse course on bill that targets encampments

Posted May 2, 2025 4:32 pm.
Over 60 organizations across the province, including two in Waterloo Region, have formed a new coalition in response to the province’s new bill that they say would target those living in encampments.
The Encampment Justice Coalition, which includes groups such as the Waterloo Region Drug Action Team and Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, have written an open letter to Premier Doug Ford calling on the province not to move forward with Bill 6, or the Safer Municipalities Act.
In the letter, the group says the act, if it were to pass, would have “punitive measures” on those who live in encampments with fines, eviction, being arrested, jailed or all four. It called the bill a “failed policy imported from the United States” and would increase costs from policing to prison. The group also said the cost to house a homeless person in prison per year is around $133,955.
“Punishing encampment residents instead of providing the housing people need costs more than anyone wants to pay — ethically, morally, and fiscally. In Ontario, we can’t afford to import this cruel American approach, especially at a time when Canada must assert its distinct values and identity,” reads the letter.
Michael Parkinson, a drug strategy specialist with the Waterloo Region Drug Action Team, said the real solution is to focus on housing instead of locking up people.
“We’re disappointed that the government continually falls far short of those housing targets, has no homelessness strategy, has no drug strategy and is relying on really failed American approaches to jail some of our more vulnerable members of society,” said Parkinson.
A report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario from January found there were over 80,000 people that were homelessness in Ontario.
The bill passed first reading on April 30, and is expected to be tabled for a second reading next week.
Victoria Street encampment
This comes on the heels of a discussion being had in the region around the clearing of the Victoria Street encampment in Kitchener.
Construction of the Kitchener Central Transit Hub (KCTH) is set to ramp up over the next 12 months, and Metrolinx has informed the Region of Waterloo that work at 100 Victoria St. N. will begin in March 2026.
To make way for that work, the region will require the roughly 35 residents currently living at the encampment on Victoria Street to find alternate housing solutions by December 1 so that they can prepare the site for construction.
Regional staff developed a site-specific bylaw that would make it illegal for anyone to live there, and fine anyone found to be in breach of those rules up to $5,000 after November 30.
However, some advocates say the motion, which passed April 24 after a number of passionate delegations, could have a silver lining.
Joe Mancini, Director, The Working Centre in Kitchener, told 570 NewsRadio this move by the region shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“It’s been some time now, and the region has warned that the encampment would be ending. So, it is reasonable that the region works with those individuals and has a plan for each individual to find an alternative arrangement.”
He said providing access to additional services through supportive housing or temporary hotels might be the touchpoint some individuals need to break the cycle of homelessness.
With files from CityNews’ Matt Hutcheson.
