‘We need to do more’: Halifax considers removing one of last designated encampment sites

A new senior living complex is opening near a Halifax tent encampment, prompting debate about its removal.

After accommodations with a friend fell through, Cassandra Taylor and her dog were forced to the streets, living at Cogswell Park in Halifax for about a month now.

“It’s different, it’s my first time living like this,” she tells CTV News Atlantic. “But, for the most part, you gotta make the best of it.”

Unable to make ends meet as a single person, she’s worried about the future, especially because Halifax will be considering removing the site off its limited list of approved encampment locations.

“You realize how much you need a home when you don’t have one,” Taylor says.

She’s stressed about the thought of having to find somewhere else to live.

She hopes if she’s told to leave, she’ll also be told housing is lined up for her, but she realizes “that’s very unlikely.”

The motion

A motion by area councillor Virginia Hinch will be brought to council on Tuesday, asking for a staff report detailing when the site could be “de-designated” – and that it be closed and remediated as soon as possible.

“When Council approved Cogswell Park as a designated site in July 2024, a total of eight tents were permitted to occupy this space,” the motion reads. “The number of tents at this encampment site has since doubled. In addition to exceeding occupancy limits, there are also safety concerns on the part of residents including fire safety concerns.”

Hinch says she’s heard complaints from people living near the park.

“They’re valid concerns, unfortunately, with safety, with the way that the park is looking; it’s not at its best nowadays,” she says.

According to Hinch, neighbours have also reported fires and rats at the park.

The motion notes the Parkland Campus on Quinpool Road is expected to open this fall, which means Cogswell Park will fall within 50 metres of an adult care facility and will no longer meet the criteria for a designated encampment site.

Patrick Maubert, a program director and social worker at Brunswick Street Mission, is disappointed to hear the location could be removed.

“These are people’s homes. At the end of the day, a tent is someone’s home,” Maubert says. “To be retraumatizing people by kicking them out of their homes and potentially losing their belongings… it’s disappointing to hear.

“It is a bit of a head scratcher as to why now, and I think when we see growing numbers and encampments, I think we have to look at that as a systemic issue.”

Maubert says while there are some options available to people, such as Pallet shelters, there still aren’t enough secure spaces for people living rough.

‘We need to do more’

Hinch says collaboration between all three levels of government is needed because the homeless population “looks like it’s going to continue to grow and grow and grow.”

“That should be a sign that we need to do more,” she says.

Hinch, who previously worked in the housing sector, acknowledges finding an affordable place to live is difficult, but says the municipality needs to take some responsibility, too.

“It falls heavily on us… We could do better for sure, the province can do a lot better as well,” she says. “Either it’s the new norm or…we do something about it.”

For Taylor, her situation is made even more challenging, living with mental health and addictions issues.

“I just hope that anyone that has a home, just be grateful, because you never know when your life can get turned upside down and they could be end up living like how we are,” she says.

Along with Cogswell Park, the remaining designated encampment sites are Green Road Park in Dartmouth, the Barrington Street green space and Lower Flinn Park.

-With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Sean Mott

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