How more homeless encampments in Ontario signal a housing crisis out of control

globalnews.ca:

Homeless encampments have been multiplying across Ontario since the pandemic, but experts say this visible symptom of the national housing crisis has been a long time coming.

With limited shelter space, a lack of social housing, increasing cost of home ownership and ballooning rents, more and more people are left with few options but to pitch a tent in a public space.

But how did we get here? And what can be done?

A deep-dive into the City of Hamilton’s experience with homeless encampments and its journey from a law enforcement response to a housing-led approach shows just how complicated it will be to address the issue – and how the circumstances resulting in the proliferation of encampments touch all of us.

Hamilton’s plight around mitigating encampments is certainly not unique.

In late 2022, Statistics Canada revealed more than 235,000 people across Canada experience homelessness in any given year.

As of the summer of 2023, the number of actively homeless people in Hamilton has grown to 1,700 with approximately 165 individuals “truly finding themselves unsheltered,” according to the city’s housing services division.

That number continues to grow, up 12 per cent from just over 1,550 in January and up 69 per cent in three years (June 2020).

Abe Oudshoorn, a researcher focusing on healthcare and homelessness out of Western University, says when looking only at those sleeping outside (and not using shelters or couch-surfing), the number in the city of London has ballooned from roughly 30 people to over 200 in the span of 15 years.

In an interview about the city of London’s use of artificial intelligence in its homelessness response in May, Kevin Dickens, deputy city manager of social and health development, said that