Updated homeless encampment strategy will expand list of 'no-go zones' in London

Updated 'rapid closure' strategy City officials are expending their list of 'no-go' zones for homeless encampments. CTV London's Daryl Newcombe reports.

London, Ont. is preparing to tighten the rules about where encampments of people experiencing homelessness will be permitted.

On Tuesday, council’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) will be asked to endorse a Community Encampment Response Plan that updates policies and procedures based on community feedback and the input of frontline agencies and stakeholders.

“All encampment protocols and proximities will be utilized at the discretion of the Community Informed Response team based on individual environment and circumstances,” states the report.

At a public meeting last month, the city unveiled a set of rules within encampments, plus a map of 14 parks and other public locations where tents will be subject to rapid removal.

According to the report, that list of no-go zones was expanded based on the feedback received during those public consultations, “These concerns have been addressed through the Community Encampment Response in communicating no-go zones, establishing proposed flexible proximities from specific sites, and updated protocols to ensure safety of unsheltered individuals and surrounding community.”

Encampments risk rapid removal (less than 24 hours) if they are:

Rapid removal is conducted by the Community Informed Response Team, by-law enforcement officers, outreach workers, and the police, if necessary.

Individuals are notified and given time to relocate their encampment unless there is an immediate risk to safety.

However, Coun. Susan Stevenson has doubts about the updated strategy.

“I’m pretty disappointed with it, to be honest, because it’s expanding on rules at a time when we have no evidence we’re able to enforce the rules we have right now,” Stevenson told CTV News.

Encampments are also forbidden in the following 14 parks and other public locations:

The staff report explains that the encampment strategy’s policies do not apply to private property, “In those instances, it is up to the private property owner to have people vacate, either voluntarily or through a trespass to property order involving the London Police Service.”

An estimated 120 people and 15 pets are currently living in encampments that meet the municipality’s requirements.

Next week, council members will also consider funding the basic needs of people living in encampments, including the provision of three meals/day, water, waste management, hygiene stations, and harm reduction services.

It will cost the city $692,000 to have Service Depots offer basic supports until July 1, 2025.

Alternatively, it will cost $1,211,000 to provide basic supports to people living in encampments until the end of March 2026.

Stevenson is unhappy to see those costs fall on the municipality, “We’ve got people living in apartments all around [Old East Village] who don’t have food at the end of the month, so what about their human rights?”

Between 2021-2023, each year, an average of 84 people living unsheltered found housing.

An additional 24 people died.

Encampment Safety Protocols made public in May included: