Region of Waterloo Special Council Meeting
January 9, 2026
RE: Proposed amendment to By-law 25-021
this meetings Agenda:"The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for public input on the proposed by-law amendment to the Code of Use By-law 25-021. The proposed amendment will be considered on January 9, 2026 at a Special Council meeting."
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Proposed: |
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Rethinking Municipal ApproachesRooted in key human-rights documents, we suggest that there are five pillars of a human-rights response to encampments:
We want to briefly discuss each pillar in turn. |
Petition:
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In local news
"The reality is, come March 31, there will still be individuals living there," she told CBC News. "There's not enough shelter space, not enough supportive housing, transitional housing or deeply affordable housing for these individuals." |
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A constructive alternative is at hand. The court-supervised mechanism identified by Justice Valente allows the region to demonstrate, on evidence, that its plan no longer infringes section 7 — through verified shelter accessibility, individualized transition supports, and genuine consultation — before enforcement resumes. This path protects vulnerable residents, reduces legal risk, and restores public confidence.
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Safe Tenting Zones & the Waterloo Encampment Case
This content has been "cut/pasted" from pages 18 of the above document.
Community focus The Advocate’s exposure to each municipality’s context was limited by time and by the people she was able to meet, making it difficult to paint a complete picture of the situation in each community. Nonetheless, the discussions brought to the surface some distinct issues and challenges in each community that are worth highlighting. The issues raised below emerged during her in-person discussions during the trip and a number of follow-up conversations, including during the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference from October 28 to 30, 2025. What we heard in Waterloo Region Waterloo Region consists of three cities and four townships. The Advocate visited the two cities with the largest populations: Cambridge and Kitchener. Following the Advocate’s visit in person, a virtual meeting was organized between the Advocate’s staff and staff from Waterloo Region who have responsibilities in the areas of housing and homelessness. Within the region, homelessness services are concentrated in Kitchener for historic and socioeconomic reasons. Nevertheless, homelessness is increasing throughout the region. While it is the Region that receives federal homelessness funding, the cities retain powers to determine housing development through bylaw and zoning and their own response to encampments This content has been "cut/pasted" from pages (XX-XX) of the above document.
What we heard in Kitchener In the afternoon on September 22, 2025, the Advocate met with community organizations, service providers, lived experts, and advocates in Kitchener to hear about the realities of unsheltered homelessness and local encampment responses. She participated in a roundtable with advocates and local community organizations that provide services to people living in encampments. Participants emphasized that the point-in-time counts from 2021 and 2024 demonstrate that unsheltered homelessness more than doubled in recent years, driven by rising rents, inadequate income supports, and system failures in housing and health care. Service providers reported escalating levels of sexual violence and trafficking in motels and encampments. Women, men, and gender-diverse individuals described being coerced, assaulted, or targeted while staying in temporary shelters or motels funded by the Region. When this was raised with staff from the Region, they said they are aware of the issue and taking steps to increase safety. Litigation undermining trust The visit provided an opportunity for the Advocate to visit the encampment at 100 Victoria Street North in Kitchener. This followed the open letter she sent to the regional council on July 16, 2025, about efforts by the Region to evict the encampment to make way for the construction of a new transit hub. On January 27, 2023, Justice Michael Valente ruled the Region of Waterloo’s attempts to clear the 100 Victoria encampment were a violation of residents’ Charter rights. Two years later, in April 2025, regional council passed a site-specific bylaw to allow the region to clear the lot, which it says is needed for a new transit hub that will be built nearby. On June 6, 2025, Waterloo Region Community Legal Services filed a motion seeking an injunction to prevent the eviction. The Advocate also provided an affidavit in the case based on her report and recommendations on homeless encampments, Upholding Dignity and Human Rights, which was published in 2024. Participants in the roundtable criticized the Region for litigating against people experiencing homelessness who are simply defending their rights. They also expressed concerns about the 21 lack of public consultation before the regional council adopted a bylaw to make people living at 100 Victoria move. No information was provided to residents in advance, and heavy equipment was deployed to the encampment without explanation on the same day the bylaw was passed. The Advocate has repeatedly called for meaningful engagement with people living in encampments to find long-term, rights-compliant housing solutions. The lack of meaningful engagement in this case undermined trust. The Advocate was pleased to learn, following her visit, that the Region has agreed to mediation with the people living at 100 Victoria. The Advocate urges all parties to ensure they work towards an agreement that respects human rights and aligns with the recommendations and guidance in the Advocate’s reports. The situation at 100 Vic The Advocate had an opportunity to speak with a number of residents and see the site for herself. Everyone she spoke to expressed a desire to move into adequate housing, but they felt the encampment was the best option available to them at the moment. They also shared their experiences of theft, violence, and exploitation in the shelter system. Since the litigation was launched, residents reported that they were feeling increased insecurity due to the risk of being evicted. Efforts by the Region to meet the basic needs of people in the encampment were felt to be inadequate. The people living in the encampment felt they were not consulted and had little influence over how and when the services they were able to receive were delivered. There was not enough access to drinking water, particularly during heatwaves, and the two port-a-potties on site lacked toilet paper and were not maintained frequently enough. While the Region provided dumpsters, it was done without consultation or warning, and they were placed in such a way that they disrupted life in the camp. Residents of the encampment also share their frustration that the 24-hour security guards are there to control them rather than keep them safe. They noted numerous incidents of people driving by and throwing rocks at the encampment and hurling insults without any action from the security guards. The encampment residents were relying mostly on local community organizations and volunteers to meet their day-to-day needs for nourishment, drinking water, access to showers, and solidarity |
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