Vast majority of London’s parkland now off limits to homeless encampments

Londoners experiencing homelessness must now navigate a more complex and restrictive set of rules about where they can set up a tent or make-shift shelter.

Londoners experiencing homelessness must now navigate a more complex and restrictive set of rules about where they can set up a tent or make-shift shelter.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, city staff revealed the potential impact of council’s decision to increase setback distances in the new Community Encampment Response Plan (CERP).

“At first glance, it looks like the council parameters that have been recommended would essentially render between 80 per cent and 85 per cent of park space as unusable for potential encampments,” Deputy City Manager of Social and Health Development Kevin Dickins told council.

Initially, frontline agencies and stakeholders participating in the Whole of Community Response to Homelessness recommended minimum setback distances (from sensitive land uses) based on a recent decision by the City of Hamilton.

However, council voted in favour of extending those setback distances based on community feedback received from homeowners and businesses last month.

Dickins added that the Community Informed Response (CIR) Team that removes problematic encampments uses judgement in its enforcement decisions.

“It looks like there will be some significant impacts in terms of restricting where encampments could possibly be located. Again, we preface that with, there's a lot of nuance and discretion that goes into this work,” he explained.