Kitchener encampment needs to be cleared by Dec. 1 ahead of transit hub construction: Region

Kate Bueckert · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 4:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 39 minutes ago

The transit hub planned for King Street W. and Victoria Street N. successful Kitchener is acceptable to statesman operation aboriginal adjacent year, but it means radical surviving astatine a adjacent encampment volition person to move.

A caller study released Wednesday astatine 4 p.m. in next week's determination assembly docket outlines the enactment that volition request to instrumentality spot implicit the adjacent respective months. Regional unit person drafted a caller bylaw that, if passed, would necessitate radical to determination disconnected the 100 Victoria St. N. encampment tract by Dec. 1.

Peter Sweeney, the region's commissioner of assemblage services, says determination unit volition beryllium moving with radical astatine the encampment connected a "case-by-case ground to find alternate and safer lodging accommodations earlier that determination nary longer becomes a viable accidental for radical to enactment at."

"It's hard work, it's analyzable work. It's besides enactment that's truly human-centred and relational," Sweeney told CBC News.

"It's truly astir knowing their unsocial circumstances, their unsocial needs, and having the speech astir what does a different, much harmless alternate look similar for you."

Ashley Schuitema, the enforcement manager of Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, said acrophobic radical had called her session aft operation equipment, a trailer and other garbage bins had been brought to the tract of the encampment connected Wednesday.

She said determination was "a batch of confusion, a batch of uncertainty."

"Residents surviving determination were rather connected borderline and feeling rather upset and stressed out," Schuitema said, adding members of the assemblage who enactment radical astatine the encampment were besides disquieted astir the changes.

She said assemblage ineligible services has been invited to a gathering with the portion connected Thursday to speech astir what's happening astatine the encampment.

She noted section organizations that marque up portion of a region-led radical for the program to end chronic homelessness met connected Tuesday, but were not made alert of immoderate changes to the Kitchener tract until they received a missive connected Wednesday.

"It seems truly disheartening to beryllium getting this accusation done interest and stress. It doesn't look similar it needs to beryllium done that way," Schuitema said. "I feeling precise frustrated."

Vacant batch meant to beryllium operation site

The portion has agelong said the spot astatine 100 Victoria St. N. would beryllium needed for operation of the caller transit hub. The portion has been readying the hub for much than a decennary and present says Metrolinx is acceptable to get operation underway successful March 2026. To hole the tract for that work, they request astir 3 months to bash remediation work, unit say.

But moving radical disconnected the tract is going to beryllium a large situation for the region. In January 2023, a Kitchener justice ruled the portion couldn't evict radical from the tract unless they gave them different spot to live.

The portion tried to reason the encampment went against a bylaw connected nationalist behaviour connected regionally owned properties.

Justice M.J. Valente cited the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and said the region's plans to determination radical disconnected the tract astatine the clip went against the person's rights to life, liberty and information of the person. That's because, Valente said successful his ruling, the portion lacked capable structure abstraction for everyone who was homeless.

Valente said if the portion could amusement it was gathering the needs of radical who were experiencing homelessness, helium would reconsider.

Homelessness has been a increasing contented successful Waterloo region. A point-in-time number successful the autumn of 2021 showed much than 1,000 radical didn't person a spot to live. That roseate to much than 2,300 radical during an October 2024 point-in-time count.

Tents astatine the 100 Victoria St. encampment archetypal went up successful aboriginal 2022. The fig of radical surviving astatine the tract has changed depending connected the clip of year, with much radical determination during the warmer months.

Region volition question further absorption from courts

Fiona McCrae is the acting solicitor for the portion and says passing a bylaw is the archetypal step. Next, the portion would spell backmost to Valente "to question further absorption from the tribunal connected a timeline that's feasible and compatible with the anticipated operation schedule."

The bylaw would marque it amerciable for anyone to unrecorded connected oregon inhabit the tract astatine 100 Victoria St. N. aft Dec. 1, 2025 and unit accidental it's besides the region's volition to guarantee nary caller tents are added to the encampment.

"Once we person a determination from council, past we'll marque a determination connected the timing for the tribunal proceedings," McCrae said, adding she expects them to instrumentality to the justice "as soon arsenic is reasonably practical" aft assembly approves the bylaw.

Sweeney says helium knows radical successful the assemblage are going to beryllium acrophobic with the region's plans but helium wants them to cognize unit volition beryllium moving intimately with the radical astatine the encampment.

"The acquisition of homelessness successful Waterloo portion is fluid, and truthful our regular effort is to enactment with individuals who are experiencing homelessness wherever they are and assistance them find a pathway into supportive, transitional and hopefully imperishable housing," helium said.

"That enactment happens crossed the region. What we're going to absorption connected successful the adjacent 5 oregon six months is specifically those individuals who are residing successful a determination that they won't beryllium capable to reside successful in December."