Housing experts assess Ontario court ruling on encampment evictions

By Brad Honywill, Communications Coordinator – CHEC

Read the original publication here.  

Canada’s academic housing experts say a recent Ontario high court decision limiting the ability of municipalities to tear down encampments does little to solve the problem of homelessness but it does help “frame the future.”

 An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that a Waterloo Region bylaw, being used to evict encampment occupants, violated the residents’ right to life, liberty, and security of the person, if there was no alternative shelter. It followed similar Charter of Rights and Freedoms caselaw in British Columbia.

As of 2016, there were an estimated 235,000 people in Canada experiencing visible homelessness,  plus another 450,000 to 900,000 “hidden” homeless (sheltered by others on a temporary basis).

Prof. Damian Collins, Project Director for the Community Housing Node of the Collaborative Housing Research Network (CHRN), said the Ontario and B.C. decisions limit the government’s ability to use bylaws to evict unsheltered residents but it doesn’timpose an obligation to assist them.

“This decision affirms the right of homeless people to take shelter in public space when formal shelter systems are not practically accessible, without being forced to move by public authorities,” said Prof. Collins.  “Needless to say, the right of a homeless person to be left alone to shelter in a tent or under cardboard is a far cry from them having a positive claim on society to adequate housing.”

Prof. Sarah Canham, Project Director for the Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) node, said long-term solutions are needed, “not reactive short-term responses of shelter.” And those long-term solutions must address the special circumstances of groups such as older adults.

“At the core of what’s needed is more affordable housing where people can live safely. And, we need our communities to welcome the building of new affordable housing developments so everyone has somewhere to call home.”

She said the displacement of individuals who are forced to be unsheltered because there is insufficient affordable housing leads to further harm and trauma.

Prof. Penny Gurstein, the outgoing Project Director of the Balanced Supply Node, said in a recent article in The Conversation that the reasons for homelessness must be addressed if homelessness is to be ended.

“For those who fall into homelessness out of economic necessity we need more plentiful affordable rental housing, rental assistance and stronger rent controls to ensure that renters’ rights are upheld. For those struggling with multiple health and substance issues, we need more supportive housing.

“For Indigenous people experiencing homelessness we need more, better funded, and culturally appropriate housing and services. For those ending up in encampments we need to ensure, at the very least, that their rights are upheld.”

Catherine Leviten-Reid, Project Director for the People, Places, Policies and Prospects node, the Ontario court decision “helps frame the future” on how municipalities respond to encampments.

“In all our communities, living in encampments is not only related to lack of housing but shelter spaces in which some individuals are not able to stay (for example, due to violent behaviours or because they feel unsafe) as well as lack of intensive supports that some individuals require and which go far beyond what our current system can even begin to address. 

“Of course, people living in encampments not only need protection from forced displacement but (in the short term) interventions which keep them safe and which allow access to food, washrooms, and supports. Fundamentally, though, what we know is needed is a massive investment on the part of higher levels of government in deeply affordable housing, alongside supports and greater incomes.”