Info Page: 150 Main Street, Cambridge -
​EnCampment & Closure

(In Build -  Additional content yet to be added, edits remain needed. Please feel free to reach out with any additional information links/related content or to let me know of any errors!)
In August 2022, an encampment formed on regional land at the 150 Main street building in Cambridge. This encampment consisting of otherwise unhoused residents occupied a row of parking spaces at the edge of the regional buildings parking lot and the minimal space next to the lots pavement line abutting the neighbouring property. It began when the neighbouring private property lot was evicted and some of the residents from there relocated themselves to this neighbouring space. This location is adjacent to many of the Cambridge community's services enabling easier direct contact for these residents to the supports they required to sustain themselves.

Throughout the course of its use by local unhoused residents, security and portable toilets were added. As well a fence was constructed surrounding the living area and barriers were added at the nearby vehicle entrance, both implemented seeking to aid in assuring resident safety and welcomed by the sites residents. 

In August of 2023 the location was closed by the Region of Waterloo. 
For more information or to arrange a donation please email [email protected]


September 6, 2023
As Sent & REleased as statement
By The Unsheltered Campaign:


​View Letter at Source 
(Text Copied Below)

From: The Unsheltered Campaign
To: Region of Waterloo Council & Regional Housing Services Staff

RE: Closure of Encampment at 150 Main St. in Cambridge
RE: Ending of Motel Shelter Program

We are writing to express our dismay about two recent actions: the involuntary closure of the encampment at 150 Main St. in Cambridge, and the ending of the motel shelter program. Based on our current understanding of these actions, we find that they raise human rights concerns and will cause harm to our unsheltered neighbours.
Continue Reading...
While the closure of the 150 Main St. encampment is being presented as voluntary, we are aware that residents felt pressured to leave, and that some previous residents of 150 Main continue to live unsheltered. This speaks to the absence of accessible and adequate shelter options for people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region. Justice Valente’s January 2023 court ruling concerning 100 Victoria St. noted this absence as a key reason why evicting residents sheltering on public lands violated their S.7 Charter rights.

The closure of 150 Main was an action contrary to the spirit of the 100 Victoria court ruling and a human rights approach to housing, due to both the pressures exerted upon residents to leave without having secure adequate alternative shelter as well as the prohibition on any future sheltering of people experiencing homelessness on these public lands.

The closure of 150 Main comes at the same time that the Region of Waterloo is discontinuing its funding of 50 motel shelter spaces for residents experiencing homelessness. Motel spaces are not permanent, adequate housing. However, we echo the concerns of other community advocates: discontinuing the funding of the motel shelter spaces before accessible and adequate housing options have been secured for residents will directly lead to more people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and exacerbate pressures on encampment sites.

As we have done in the past, we once again call on the Region of Waterloo Council and Regional staff to adopt practices consistent with a human rights approach to homelessness and housing, including:
  • Recognize a right to shelter on regional lands;
  • Stop evicting and criminalizing encampment communities;
  • End neo-vagrancy by-laws;
  • Provide ample access to public restrooms and other amenities outside of a few central locations in the region;
  • Eliminate hostile architecture that forces people to not use public amenities (like park benches);
  • Reallocate funds from downstream programs to upstream services such as transitional housing for unsheltered and hidden homeless.

(Letter continues below tweet) 

As immediate next steps, Unsheltered Campaign requests the following from the Region:
  • Provide transparent information to Unsheltered Campaign and service organizations in Cambridge about how the encampment was closed, and what services and supports people were offered leading up to the closure - both the process over the last few months, and in the days leading up to the closure.
  • Clarify how the closure of 150 Main meets the requirements set out by the court ruling that encampments cannot be evicted without assuring the quantity and nature of the shelter options available - Kevin Boutilier's comments in this news article raise serious concerns on this matter.
  • Provide Unsheltered Campaign with transparent information about next steps for residents who have been staying in motels. We request information that does not reveal individual identities, but provides adequate information that includes the number of people who were sheltering in motels prior to defunding, and their trajectories.

Sincerely,
Unsheltered Campaign


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Related Information

Municipal Information
Region of Waterloo:
Regional Meetings - Housing related info Highlighted - January - August 2023
(Working on this area still... please check back again later for more links!)
January 2023
​January 
  • Community and Health Services Committee, January 10, 2023
  • Regional Council Meeting, January 25, 2023
    • 19. Other Business From the Minutes: “In response to a question from Council, Peter Sweeney, Commissioner, Community Services stated that the sanctioned encampment will unfortunately not be able to open in February as hoped and that staff are now targeting mid to late March. He noted that there will be a meeting held on January 26, 2023 for community members to ask questions about the site.”
February 2023
February
  • Regional Municipality of Waterloo Community and Health Services Committee, 
  • ​Regional Council Meeting, February 22, 2023 - 
    • Delegate:  7.3 Nabil Kohistani - "N. Kohistani provided a presentation on the homeless crisis in Waterloo Region. A copy of the presentation is appended to the original minutes. He encouraged the Region to look at changing the housing market through inclusionary zoning and creating more programs similar to the YW-Blockline site." 
March 2023
March
  • ​Regional Council Meeting, 
  • Community and Health Services Committee
April 2023
April
  •  Community and Health Services Committee - April 4, 2023
    • ​Meeting Minutes
      • 7.2.1 Report: CSD-HOU-23-011, Plan to End Chronic Homelessness Update
  • Regional Council Meeting, April 19, 2023
    • Delegations:
      • ​"8.2 Janice Jim, Organizer, Ground Up WR
        • J. Jim, Organizer, Ground Up WR expressed her concerns with the lack of transparency regarding the KPMG staffing report for Waterloo Region Police Services (WRPS). She  highlighted that the full report was not publicly available until a month after the budget was approved and the summary did not disclose that a surplus was available for staffing. She asked for Council to reconsider the WRPS budget in light of the report. A copy of her written remarks are attached to the original minutes. (could not find them)
      • 8.3 Kevin White, Kitchener
        • K. White appeared before Council to express his concerns with the KPMG report that was prepared for the WRPS and only made available to the public recently. He noted that the report recommended using budget surpluses to cover staffing costs. K. White further objected to an indication in the report that an increase in the diversity of the population equates to an increase in crime. He encouraged the Region to revisit the approval of the police budget. "
May 2023
May 
  • Community and Health Services Committee, Tuesday, May 09, 2023
June 2023
July 2023
August 2023

​October 2022
December 2021
Municipal Planning (Housing and Homelessness)
Interim Housing Solutions
​Interim Housing Solutions

​Engage Waterloo Region: Interim Housing Solutions: 

​From the above link:
​
"Interim Housing Solutions Strategy
We are moving forward with an Interim Housing Solutions strategy to address this challenging situation, using four key tools:
  • Expanding the Transitional Housing Program;
  • Expanding the Home-Based Support Program;
  • Expanding the Emergency Shelter Program; and
  • Permitting a temporary managed Hybrid Shelter/Outdoor Model.
In addition, we will create a Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, which will guide the Region’s work to prevent and end homelessness." 
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You can find out more, offer input, or sign up for progress updates at engageWR.ca
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​
Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan

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Plan to end chronic homelessness
 

​Other Related Information Links:
Service & support providers located at the 150 Main Street Region of Waterloo building in Cambridge & direct surrounding downtown Galt area:
Please Note: List above is still currently in build/draft - Please feel free to let me know if I've missed adding or am mistaken in any information.
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Media Coverage
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