Mayor of Kitchener calls uptick in number of tents at Victoria Street encampment ‘a concern’

A controversial location in Kitchener is seeing the number of tents rise on the site once again.

An injunction application from the Region of Waterloo to evict residents at 100 Victoria Street was dismissed in January.

The region also opened it’s first-ever hybrid shelter at 1001 Erbs Road in Waterloo in the spring. Since then, the 50 beds have filled up. That initially caused the number of tents at Victoria and Weber to reduce.

However, Mayor of Kitchener Berry Vrbanovic told CityNews that’s no longer the case.

“In speaking with some of our partners, including The Working Centre, which operates the soup kitchen across the street from Victoria and Weber, we’ve seen the number [of tents] go up again. That’s a concern for me. I want to make sure that we’re staying on top of it and meeting the needs of both that group of residents and the broader community.”

Two residents of the encampment explained why so many people have returned to the Victoria Street encampment.

“It’s close to downtown,” said Tara, who’s been at Victoria Street and Weber Street for three weeks. “And also the soup kitchen is right across the street. Our needs need to be met, so we can’t be out near the Ray of Hope centre unfortunately because there’s nothing out there. Everything we need is here.”

“There’s a lot because of the [soup] kitchen,” said Francis. “You can get showers here, laundry, you get food. There’s a safe injection site for people that do that, which is good, because some other cities don’t have that. Some other cities don’t have the services that Kitchener-Waterloo do.”

Both Tara and Francis noted the weather as another reason the tents have increased.

Vrbanovic is worried that the rising number of tents might only be the beginning. He brought up that issue at a recent regional committee meeting.

“This is not even during the winter season,” Mayor Vrbanovic noted. “Is this an indication of what we might expect this winter? If that’s the case, regional staff need to be progressive in terms of getting ahead of the game and tackling this issue.”

Vrbanovic said that staff and community partners need to work together to get more emergency shelter spaces ready in the near future. Although, he admitted it can’t be done alone. The region needs provincial and federal funding.

“It’s certainly a concern for us because ultimately we’d like to be in a situation where that location is no longer needed for that purpose,” said Vrbanovic.

The conversation continues at a provincial scale Wednesday. Vrbanovic and his regional colleagues discuss chronic homelessness with other Ontario mayors and cabinet ministers at the Association of Municipalities Ontario conference in London.

Vrbanovic said housing affordability, homelessness, as well as mental health and addictions are all linked, and as whole issue, is one of the most significant problems currently facing Ontario and Canadian cities.