Dear City of Cambridge...
(CC: Region of Waterloo)
Federal Housing Advocate (Info & Visit)
September 22, 2025
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"The Federal Housing Advocate, Marie-Josée Houle, will be in Southern Ontario from September 22–26, 2025, to visit homeless encampments, meet with people with lived experience and service providers, and engage with municipal and provincial decision-makers. The visit will include stops in Kitchener, Cambridge, London, Hamilton, and Toronto. This visit follows her February 2024 report on homeless encampments, which sparked national attention." |
#Community #Unsheltered #HumanRightsHow To make a submission to the Federal Housing Advocate |
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The visit provided an opportunity to follow up the letter the Advocate sent to the Mayor and Cambridge city council on July 4, 2025, in response to eviction notices posted at an encampment in the city in late June. The visit also took place the day before the council was to debate a motion to study the issue of encampment evictions during extreme weather events.
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In the news:Federal Housing Advocate touring Southern Ontario to monitor encampment responses (44:17); - The Mike Farwell Show - September 23, 2025
Federal housing advocate tours Kitchener, Cambridge encampments - The Morning Edition - K-W CBC Listen - September 24, 2025 Federal Housing Advocate checking in on Waterloo Region City News - September 24, 2025 |
Guide to Meaningful Engagement
and Integrating a Human Rights-Based Approach into Encampment Responses
"In February 2024, the Federal Housing Advocate released her report, Upholding Dignity and Human Rights, presenting her findings and recommendations following a systemic review of homeless encampments across Canada. The report highlighted that governments have human rights obligations to people living in encampments and called for a human rights-based approach."
Guide to Meaningful Engagement and Integrating a Human Rights-Based Approach into Encampment Responses
- Eight Principles to Guide Meaningful Engagement with People Living in Encampments and Integrating a Human Rights-Based Approach into Encampment Responses
- Actions to Understand and Respect the Realities of People Living in Encampments:
- Factsheet 1 - Understand and Respect the Realities of People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 2 - Publicly Recognize the Human Rights of People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 3 - Recognize and Uphold the Rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 4 - Build and Maintain the Trust of People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 5 - Provide Services Adapted to the Needs and Realities of People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 6 - Facilitate Participation in Decision-Making for People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 7 - Support the Self-Determination and Autonomy of People Living in Encampments
- Factsheet 8 - Continue to Work Towards Long-Term, Adequate Housing Solutions
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At the centre of this,
we must rely on a human rights approach. While we can always do better than these minimum standards, we should never do worse than these basic requirements. |
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As reported by local media, the Federal Housing Advocate wrote to the City of Cambridge to express concern with the treatment of people living in encampments during heat waves this summer, specifically the issuing of eviction notices during heat waves.
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"I appreciate that municipalities like Region of Waterloo are on the frontlines of the homelessness crisis and responses to encampments but do not necessarily have the powers and financial resources to address all the systemic factors contributing to homelessness. Nevertheless, municipal governments – just like all other orders of government – have obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights and to adopt a human rights based approach to encampments."
