One year after Tent City was taken down, issues persist for unhoused in St. John's
Months-long tent encampment seen by some as a protest against the housing crisis
The grounds surrounding Colonial Building in St. John's don't contain many traces of the tent encampment that occupied the area for the first part of 2024, but Greg Mcain and Laurel Huget know where to look.
As the pair walk through the area, they point out empty patches of grass where tents once stood, or where residents would gather around open fires.
"This was full of tents everywhere. We had lots of volunteers and advocates that came and helped us out. It was really good," Mcain said.
Mcain stayed at the encampment, also known as Tent City for Change, for most of its duration. Huget was a volunteer, supporting residents with food and donations.
The encampment sprung up across from Confederation Building during fall 2023, before moving to the grounds of Colonial Building. It became a symbol of the housing crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador — and a flashpoint of controversy.
Mcain said he had been sleeping rough — on the streets, on couches and in tents — for about five years before he began sleeping at the Colonial Building tent encampment. He says he stayed at tent city because his dog wasn't allowed inside shelters.
"I wasn't going to give her up. She's a support animal for me," he said.
Mcain said he knew couples who decided to stay at the encampment because they would've been separated in the shelter system. He said others had experienced violence or drug exposure in shelters.
Both Mcain and Huget say the encampment was also an ongoing protest.
"It was an opportunity for solidarity between people who are unhoused, folks who are precariously housed, and … people in, like, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, … coming together to fight for something better," Huget said.
About a month after the encampment began, Premier Andrew Furey announced a task force to address homelessness. A few weeks later, the provincial government leased a hotel, with the goal of turning the building into transitional housing.
Safety concerns persisted throughout the duration of the encampment, which was located just steps from a playground and an outdoor skating rink. The City of St. John's initially closed the public washrooms in the area, but reopened them after university students staged a protest — placing a toilet, wrapped in chains, in front of city hall.
There was drug use and occasional violence in the encampment. In late April, a damaged propane tank, used for heat during the winter, caused a fire that destroyed part of Mcain's tent.
The provincial government sent Newfoundland and Labrador Housing employees to the encampment to try moving residents into shelters. Some moved, but others refused.
Huget acknowledges the incidents, but said residents and volunteers did their best to minimize the impact on the neighbourhood.
"It was a community here and one that was messy at times, but … also like beautiful and supportive," she said.
But it didn't last forever.
On May 3, police and unidentified government workers wearing hazmat suits showed up at the site and began dismantling the encampment.
The clearing of the tent city came just a few days after the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure posted signs around the encampment, ordering the removal of temporary structures and providing a phone number for people experiencing homelessness.
A year later, those signs are the only remaining evidence of the encampment
Homelessness increasing since 2020
About 360 people were known to be experiencing homelessness in the St. John's area as of January 2025, according to End Homelessness St. John's.
Jennifer Tipple, the organization's director of strategy and impact, said that number has been steadily increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
"There's simply not enough housing to go around," she said. "The option is, a lot of the time, for people to sleep rough in encampments."
Earlier this year, End Homelessness St. John's began accepting clients at Horizons at 106, the former hotel leased by the provincial government. Tipple said between 75 and 100 people live in the facility at a time.
"We had the single biggest inflow from homelessness into housing in our entire community's history," Tipple said.
Other community organizations, like The Gathering Place, are in the process of opening transitional housing as well.
A recent four-year strategy from End Homelessness St. John's called for additional housing stock, and legislative changes which include an end to no-fault evictions
"Landlords basically do have the balance of power. They can say that at any given point in time, you haven't even done anything wrong, but that people may receive an eviction," she said.
Minister says more housing means 'everyone wins'
Sarah Stoodley, the acting provincial minister of housing, said protecting the rights of tenants while increasing the stock of rental housing is a difficult balance.
"Part of the housing solution is to have more landlords so that we can have more housing," she said. "We don't want to create a system where it's too burdensome to be a landlord, that no one becomes a landlord."
In 2023, CBC News obtained dozens of complaints about the conditions inside for-profit shelters, alleging violence, uncleanliness, improperly cooked food and solicitation of female clients.
Last summer, the provincial government announced new standards for for-profit shelters. Stoodley said her department has a team working to ensure shelter operators meet those standards.
Stoodley said another priority is simply building more housing. She said Newfoundland and Labrador Housing is in the process of constructing over 200 affordable housing units across the province.
"Everyone wins when there's more housing," she said. "There's, you know, downward pressure on rental rates, there's more choice for people."
Mcain, the former tent city resident, said he has found housing — a bachelor-style apartment where he doesn't have to worry about the weather or his things getting stolen.
But he still thinks about those who haven't been so lucky, who are sleeping in cars, sheds, in the woods or downtown alleys.
"I've done it before, out like with a blanket and on cardboard. It's hard," he said.
"I've been off the street now only about three months and my heart goes out to them. I don't know how I done it, but it's cold, man."
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