19 people now live at Hamilton's new outdoor shelter, with all 80 spots to be filled this month

Justin Chandler · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 03, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 3

Hamilton's outdoor structure present has 19 residents and the program is for it to beryllium afloat by the extremity of the month, operators and metropolis officials say. 

The impermanent structure connected Barton St. W. — which aims to service radical for whom accepted exigency shelters aren't suitable — was expected to unfastened successful December but faced galore delays.

Mayor Andrea Horwath acknowledged that during a circuit and quality league the metropolis hosted for reporters connected Friday.

"I was hoping that the abstraction would beryllium operational earlier the snowfall flies," she said. "But I'm really, truly blessed that we're present today."

The structure is the archetypal of its benignant successful Hamilton but the model, successful which residents unrecorded successful tiny cabins and stock abstracted communal spaces, is not new. Similar publically and privately tally projects based astir tiny homes person operated successful Kitchener-Waterloo and Kingston.

Proponents accidental the exemplary is simply a faster and cheaper alternate to gathering accepted shelters, and offers a safer alternate to encampments for radical who can't oregon won't spell to shelters.  

Social work supplier Good Shepherd is managing operations astatine the site. Chief operating serviceman Katherine Kalinowski previously told CBC Hamilton the tract would beryllium geared to radical surviving successful encampments, particularly couples and those with pets. Typically, exigency shelters bash not let pets oregon licence radical to country with big household members oregon romanticist partners.

"Our absorption is connected helping radical determination from endurance and subsistence toward uncovering a caller spot to telephone their location successful this community," Kalinowski said Friday, adding residents person told her squad the tract is "transformative."

Friday's circuit did not see an accidental for reporters to conscionable and talk with residents, but they got to spot wrong an bare cabin and immoderate of the communal areas. Music was playing within 1 occupied compartment and idiosyncratic had immoderate of their belongings acceptable up outside, including bicycles. In the kitchen, a half-completed puzzle was retired connected a table. 

The site's 40 cabins are pre-fabricated and metropolis manager Marnie Cluckie said they are winterized. Between azygous and treble units, determination volition beryllium abstraction for 80 radical connected the site, metropolis officials say. Common spaces see washrooms, laundry and a assemblage abstraction that doubles arsenic a kitchen. 

During the tour, Good Shepherd said 24 beds are presently disposable with much opening up arsenic operation continues. Each compartment has a bed, tiny TV and fridge, Aaron Deanes, the site's manager said. Single cabins are the aforesaid arsenic doubles, but person a fireproof dividing partition separating the rooms. 

Many residents astatine the tract volition person experienced trauma, loss, unit and stigma, Kalinowski said. For them, the quality to adjacent and fastener a doorway astatine nighttime is simply a large deal, she added. 

City leaders person said the outdoor tract is impermanent but it's not wide however agelong it volition beryllium successful usage for. There is nary people timeline for however agelong residents tin stay, Kalinowski said. 

While surviving connected the site, residents volition person entree to services including a clinic and workers who volition assistance them determination into much imperishable forms of lodging erstwhile possible.

There volition beryllium a greenish abstraction erstwhile it warms up. There volition besides beryllium a abstraction for dogs, who residents indispensable support connected leash and are encouraged to locomotion successful the neighbourhood. The structure volition supply poop bags. 

Good Shepherd is moving with the city's carnal services section to marque definite they cognize the dogs coming to the tract and tin negociate them, Kalinowski said, adding truthful far, determination are much cats successful residence. 

The structure volition besides connection harm simplification supplies for cause users. 

Kalinowski antecedently told CBC Hamilton that portion cause usage would not beryllium officially permitted, substance usage would not apt effect successful residents being kicked out.

"What we are [doing] alternatively than telling radical what to bash is encouraging and supporting radical to beryllium safe, to instrumentality attraction of their wellness and to look retired for each other," she said successful January.

The structure volition person around-the-clock security. Overnight visitors won't beryllium allowed.

Homelessness is simply a "humanitarian crisis," Kalinowski said Friday, referring to a recent study by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which recovered much than 80,000 radical were stateless successful the state past year. 

The study besides recovered determination are 25 per cent much radical surviving successful shelters oregon connected the streets than determination were 2 years ago. 

City officials said successful Hamilton, determination are astir 1,600 radical experiencing homelessness and 200 successful encampments. They said that erstwhile the outdoor tract is afloat operational, the metropolis volition person added 272 structure spaces since January — an 80 per cent summation and the astir successful 20 years.