Federal housing advocate Marie-Josée Houle has expressed serious concerns about plans to clear a long-standing homeless encampment at 100 Victoria Street N. in Kitchener, near the train station. The encampment, occupied since early 2022, is set to be cleared by Dec. 1 under a new bylaw to allow construction of a transit hub. Houle’s open letter to Region of Waterloo officials urges a human rights-based approach, emphasizing the need to engage meaningfully with those living at the site and provide adequate, culturally appropriate housing rather than just emergency shelters.
Houle highlighted that emergency shelters often lack security, accessibility, and safety, particularly for Indigenous people, women, disabled individuals, and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. She also criticized the region’s contradictory actions—supporting residents with outreach workers while simultaneously pursuing legal action to evict them—which undermines trust.
The region faces a worsening homelessness crisis, with over 2,300 people without housing as of October 2024. A 2023 court ruling blocked eviction without offering alternative housing, citing Charter rights. The region continues to provide outreach support, sanitation, and safety measures at the site and has helped some residents relocate. A legal challenge to the bylaw will be heard in November, while Houle offers her office’s assistance to help the region find better solutions.
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