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Encampment Rules and Guidelines

Welcome to the Municipality of Chatham-Kent’s survey on the possibility of rules and guidelines for where encampments should and should not be. As the housing & homelessness crisis grows, it is impacting all community members in some way, and we want to hear from you.

What’s happening now?

Communities across Canada have increasingly grappled with the need to find solutions that address the needs of both people living in encampments and the broader communities within which they exist. Homelessness and encampments continue to grow and are the result of several systemic failures including:

  • a lack of affordable housing,
  • frozen social assistance rates,
  • insufficient mental health and addiction treatment services,
  • limited accessible emergency shelter space,
  • a broader lack of affordability for basic needs, and
  • insufficient resources at a municipal level to address these issues.

Chatham-Kent’s current emergency shelter (Victoria Park Place) operated at 99% capacity on average in 2024, illustrating that there are simply not enough beds for the approximately 200 plus individuals experiencing homelessness in Chatham-Kent. The true solution is more housing options, and although there is progress in this area, building takes time and funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments. In recognition of this, the Municipality is enhancing the local response to unsheltered homelessness.

Chatham-Kent’s response follows guidance from important human rights documents and a legal decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. This decision affects all municipalities in Ontario, finding that evicting encampment residents without offering truly accessible shelter spaces violates their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This means that the Municipality of Chatham-Kent cannot remove people who are experiencing homelessness unless alternative options are provided or there are compelling safety concerns.

Chatham-Kent is seeking a consistent approach to better determine what areas are suitable for an encampment, and what areas are not, to reduce the harms that this crisis is having on the entire community, including for those living in encampments. By recognizing that this problem cannot be solved by enforcement, we are seeking a harm reduction approach that recognizes the reality of encampments while also reducing the harms that they can create without any rules or guidelines/expectations.

What is the Municipality of Chatham-Kent’s role?

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent does:

  • Serve as the Service Manager for the Province of Ontario for Housing and Homelessness programs.
  • Receive limited funding to provide services across the housing continuum.
  • Additionally, the Municipality has been funding emergency housing out of Municipal reserves as the funding received from the province is not nearly enough to meet the growing need.

The Municipality does not:

  • Set social assistance rates which have been frozen for people relying on Ontario Works since 2018 - that is approximately 2,400 Chatham-Kent households. Every month these households move one step closer to homelessness as they cannot afford their rent or basic needs, such as food and supplies for hygiene.
  • Manage or deliver mental health or substance use programming. The waitlists to access these vital treatment services are often over six months long. Currently, when someone acknowledges that they need help and they want to access treatment, they are faced with several month long waits which is not conducive to successful recoveries.

These are just some of the examples that illustrate the complexity of the situation happening across the province and why the Municipality is not equipped, nor does it have the authority, to resolve this crisis on its own.

Our goal is not to secure consensus on rules and guidelines but rather to improve our recommendations to Council that balances a variety of experiences and rights. Homelessness as well as the opioid crisis is impacting a growing number of Chatham-Kent residents and business owners, but it is having a far superior impact on the people directly living in this crisis. Every day is a matter of life and death for people living in encampments. Finding an improved path forward to reduce harms while helping people get the treatment and support services that they need remains our priority.

Welcome to the Municipality of Chatham-Kent’s survey on the possibility of rules and guidelines for where encampments should and should not be. As the housing & homelessness crisis grows, it is impacting all community members in some way, and we want to hear from you.

What’s happening now?

Communities across Canada have increasingly grappled with the need to find solutions that address the needs of both people living in encampments and the broader communities within which they exist. Homelessness and encampments continue to grow and are the result of several systemic failures including:

  • a lack of affordable housing,
  • frozen social assistance rates,
  • insufficient mental health and addiction treatment services,
  • limited accessible emergency shelter space,
  • a broader lack of affordability for basic needs, and
  • insufficient resources at a municipal level to address these issues.

Chatham-Kent’s current emergency shelter (Victoria Park Place) operated at 99% capacity on average in 2024, illustrating that there are simply not enough beds for the approximately 200 plus individuals experiencing homelessness in Chatham-Kent. The true solution is more housing options, and although there is progress in this area, building takes time and funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments. In recognition of this, the Municipality is enhancing the local response to unsheltered homelessness.

Chatham-Kent’s response follows guidance from important human rights documents and a legal decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. This decision affects all municipalities in Ontario, finding that evicting encampment residents without offering truly accessible shelter spaces violates their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This means that the Municipality of Chatham-Kent cannot remove people who are experiencing homelessness unless alternative options are provided or there are compelling safety concerns.

Chatham-Kent is seeking a consistent approach to better determine what areas are suitable for an encampment, and what areas are not, to reduce the harms that this crisis is having on the entire community, including for those living in encampments. By recognizing that this problem cannot be solved by enforcement, we are seeking a harm reduction approach that recognizes the reality of encampments while also reducing the harms that they can create without any rules or guidelines/expectations.

What is the Municipality of Chatham-Kent’s role?

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent does:

  • Serve as the Service Manager for the Province of Ontario for Housing and Homelessness programs.
  • Receive limited funding to provide services across the housing continuum.
  • Additionally, the Municipality has been funding emergency housing out of Municipal reserves as the funding received from the province is not nearly enough to meet the growing need.

The Municipality does not:

  • Set social assistance rates which have been frozen for people relying on Ontario Works since 2018 - that is approximately 2,400 Chatham-Kent households. Every month these households move one step closer to homelessness as they cannot afford their rent or basic needs, such as food and supplies for hygiene.
  • Manage or deliver mental health or substance use programming. The waitlists to access these vital treatment services are often over six months long. Currently, when someone acknowledges that they need help and they want to access treatment, they are faced with several month long waits which is not conducive to successful recoveries.

These are just some of the examples that illustrate the complexity of the situation happening across the province and why the Municipality is not equipped, nor does it have the authority, to resolve this crisis on its own.

Our goal is not to secure consensus on rules and guidelines but rather to improve our recommendations to Council that balances a variety of experiences and rights. Homelessness as well as the opioid crisis is impacting a growing number of Chatham-Kent residents and business owners, but it is having a far superior impact on the people directly living in this crisis. Every day is a matter of life and death for people living in encampments. Finding an improved path forward to reduce harms while helping people get the treatment and support services that they need remains our priority.

Page last updated: 30 Aug 2024, 04:11 PM