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Encampments are outdoor tent dwellings and makeshift shelters that are present in various parks and green spaces across the city, including in and around the Regent Park and Moss Park area. Many of the inhabitants are homeless.  

Acknowledging the lack of shelters to safely house the homeless during the Covid-19 pandemic, in an effort to prevent and deter encampments, the City of Toronto has acquired hotels and buildings, in order to provide temporal housing to encamping individuals.

As claimed on the city of Toronto’s website (Toronto, July 14th, 2020):

“Clearing encampments is a multidisciplinary effort with staff from Parks, Forestry & Recreation, Transportation Services, Solid Waste Management Services, and Shelter, Support & Housing Administration, and where appropriate, there is support from the Toronto Police Service to ensure the safety of all.”

Furthermore, the city claims that:

“As of today [July 14th, 2020] over 300 individuals have been moved from encampments to appropriate indoor spaces, including shelter, respite, hotels and interim housing.  Subsequent to the individuals being moved, the encampments are cleared of waste and debris. Our priority is getting people safely inside.”

According to Greg, people live in encampments because they feel safer then living in the City’s crowded shelter system. Furthermore, the inhabitants of encampments far exceed the City’s capacity to provide safe homeless shelters or temporary hotels. If this is the case, why are they removing the encampments?

By Ruichen Geng

(Ruichen Geng is a volunteer journalist with the FOCUS Media Arts Centre)