City of Prince George, B.C., to dismantle homeless encampment after court ruling

The courthouse in Prince George, B.C., in an undated file photo. (Provincial Court of British Columbia)

The City of Prince George says it will begin dismantling a long-standing homeless encampment after a B.C. Supreme Court judge approved the move and ruled the city had taken steps to shelter unhoused people.

Prince George had gone to court twice before to close the encampment on lands the city owns, but was previously told that residents must be allowed to stay due to unsuitable housing and daytime facilities for unhoused people in the city.

The court ruling, issued last week, says that after a new supportive housing facility adjacent to the encampment opened in January, the city returned to court to enforce its bylaws and close the camp.

The ruling says the most recent data from November 2024 show there are more than 200 people in Prince George who were “absolutely homeless,” many of whom struggling with poverty, mental health issues, racism and addiction.

“Housing for this vulnerable population is inherently precarious,” Justice Bruce Elwood wrote. “Many people without a home in Prince George end up camping on city lands; yet the city does not have the funds, expertise or jurisdiction to create housing for them without support from senior levels of government.”

The judge found the lack of affordable housing, coupled with “strict rules” about subsidized housing mean “people who want a safe and warm place to stay either cannot find a space, are ineligible for the available spaces or cannot comply with the rules and find themselves evicted with nowhere else to go.”

The encampment known as the Lower Patricia Boulevard Encampment was established in 2021, and peaked that summer with around 70 “tent structures,” the court ruling says.

Legal efforts to shut it down began in the fall of 2021, with the city naming encampment residents as defendants, including one who allegedly ran a bicycle “chop shop” at the camp.

The B.C. Supreme Court, however, ordered that encampment residents be allowed to stay due to the absence of “other suitable housing and daytime facilities.”

The city then moved some residents to a supportive housing property known as the Knights Inn and dismantled much of the encampment, mistakenly believing it had been “abandoned.”

It went to court again in 2022, but was told that it had breached a court order and inflicted “serious harm on vulnerable people” by dismantling the camp.

The latest ruling says the city changed course after the 2022 court loss, and the province, the B.C. Housing Management Commission and the city have “since made significant investments to create new housing and shelter for unhoused people in Prince George.”

Elwood ruled that the city was entitled to an order to close the encampment, but also left the door open for residents to “apply to the court for a constitutional exemption” from the order in “exceptional circumstances” where they can’t access the nearby low-barrier supportive housing facility.

The judge found both the city and the province “have spent significant public resources in an effort to fulfil” the conditions of the 2021 court order after the encampment “persisted” in violation of city bylaws for four years.

The city said in a statement after the ruling was released that although the court authorized an immediate closure of the site on Lower Patricia Blvd., it was awaiting BC Housing to connect around 20 residents with housing, after which they’ll have seven days to leave.

Prince George city manager Walter Babicz said in the statement that the case was “a complex and difficult situation for everyone involved.”

“The court’s decision provides the city with the ability to move forward in addressing significant safety, health, and operational challenges at the encampment site, which have had real impacts on the neighbouring residents, businesses and the entire community,” he said.

Lawyers for the encampment residents did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This report by Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published Aug. 18, 2025.