York Region grapples with housing problems after court ruling on encampments, Bill 23

Living 'rough' in Ontario winters can be dangerous and new developments make it difficult for agencies to help
Kim Zarzour

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 13, 2023
Kim Zarzour

You may not see them but they’re there, even during those frigid -30C days that we all just endured: people living without homes, huddling under makeshift shelters in our ravines, parks and wooded areas.

Like most municipalities, York Region has its share of tent cities. Now two recent Ontario developments -- a court decision and new legislation -- make the situation even more precarious.

Katherine Chislett, York’s commissioner of community and health services, said the region is currently working with about 25 individuals living outside, offering support to leave the streets and find safety.

“There are folks living in a park in Richmond Hill, for example. We do what we can, but we can’t force them into a shelter.”

Recently, staff worked with encampments in a northern part of the region on Ministry of
Transportation land. It took a couple of weeks, but they finally accepted assistance, Chislett said.

Living “rough” isn’t safe and it’s likely not a first choice, she added.

“Something bad is going on here. No one decides to do this as their first choice … It may be someone who has difficulty with decisions or doesn’t know the resources. We want to get them out of the system and on with their life, get them back on track; that’s our job.”

Now agencies that help the homeless are encountering more difficulty.

Bill 23, which makes housing services ineligible for development charges, could cost regional housing services an estimated $109 million over 10 years.

At the same time, a precedent-setting Superior Court ruling, denying the Region of Waterloo’s request to evict people from a Kitchener encampment without adequate indoor shelter space, could affect how York Region handles its own tent cities.

The wait-list for community housing has about 15,000 applicants, Chislett said, and most will wait for 10 to 12 years.

Newmarket Mayor John Taylor, whose town is contending with rising homelessness and encampments, expressed concern that Bill 23 will make the situation worse.
Under the bill, the region stands to lose an estimated $645 million in fees, previously paid by developers to help municipalities pay for the costs of growth, including funds that traditionally help pay for social housing.

Taylor estimates this would only amount to a few thousand dollars on a typical million-dollar house -- but would be crippling for the region’s attempts to solve the housing crisis.

“I think every person in Ontario would be furious if they understood how little difference that can possibly make yet, the incredible damage it's going to do to our communities. It’s going to make the wait time 15, 20 years long and at some point, pointless.”

Vaughan Regional Coun. Gino Rosati shared the concern.

“Many of those are seniors. They may not live long enough before they get into housing.”

As backlash continues over a proposed men’s emergency and transitional housing facility in
Aurora, the region makes do with 160 shelter beds 100 per cent occupied almost all the time, Chislett said.

Seasonal shelters add more beds in winter and when there’s overflow, cots are set up in common areas. When there’s not enough space for families, the region puts them up in hotels, she said.

“We do all we can. We don't want to turn people away. It's too unsafe to sleep outside, but that may not be sufficient in the future under this court ruling.”

In a decision Jan. 27, an Ontario judge ruled evicting people from encampments, when there aren’t enough space in shelters, violates charter rights.

A joint statement, that includes the Community Legal Clinic of York Region, warns that “without immediate, permanent and supportive housing, any kind of encampment violates the Charter and discriminates against unhoused, Indigenous and racialized individuals, women, people with disabilities, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and families."

York Region is conferring with legal experts to determine implications of that ruling, Chislett said.

“Bylaw officers may not be able to do anything about encampments if we don’t have decent housing to offer.”