Tent encampments on the rise in Toronto, appearing in places not seen before: city

The number of tents set up by unhoused people in Toronto is rising and encampments are appearing in parks and ravines outside of downtown where they haven't been seen before, a senior city official says.

"We're seeing homelessness in places we haven't traditionally seen it. That's outside of the downtown core in communities right across this city," Gordon Tanner, general manager of Toronto Shelter and Support Services, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Monday. 

"This is fundamentally an affordability issue."

In a letter to council that answered a councillor's administrative inquiry, the city said there were 283 encampments in Toronto on March 14. Data released last year shows there were 202 encampments on March 15, 2024. The city defines one tent as an encampment.

With Toronto experiencing a continued housing and homelessness crisis, Tanner said the growing number of tents is a sign that people are unable to access affordable and supportive housing. He said the city needs more housing to bring people indoors.

"People, when they don't have a place to go, rely on their own means and sometimes that means putting up a tent and being in a public place like a park," he said.

Tanner said the city is taking action to find housing for people in encampments. He said it has a 10-year capital plan to build 20 new shelters in Toronto, a plan was brought to council last summer, he said. The first shelter as part of that plan is expected to open in 2027. 

As well, he said the city has teams of staff on the ground, working with unhoused people, offering them access to support services, "treating them with dignity, empathy and compassion" and trying to get them into housing as quickly as possible. Staff members are also connecting with unhoused people on public transit, he said.

"In the meantime, during this housing situation we're in, we continue to see the growth of encampments all across the city," he said.

'Homelessness doesn't discriminate'

Tanner said unhoused people living in parks, ravines and secluded areas, such as parts of the Don Valley, isn't new. He added it happens more in the summer when the weather is warmer and he said sometimes people set up tents in secluded areas because they want to be away from busy downtown parks.

"We're seeing more of it in different parts of the city," he said.

Tanner said there are no areas of Toronto that don't have unhoused people.

"I think homelessness doesn't discriminate. Anyone and everyone could experience homelessness with a missed pay cheque or other challenging situation in their life. These issues happen right across the city."

Elise von Scheel, spokesperson for the city, said in an email on Monday that recent federal funding will enable Toronto to expand its street outreach teams who help people living outside.

"The best outcomes for vulnerable individuals and surrounding communities come from bringing people indoors where social, housing and health services are available. The city remains committed to providing that help to as many people as possible," von Scheel said.

According to the city, outreach staff referred about 1,078 people living outside into the shelter system last year. Of this number, 848 people were from encampments. 

Rise in tent encampments not surprising, advocate says

Greg Cook, an outreach worker at Sanctuary Toronto, said the rise in the number of encampments is not surprising given rising rents, the lack of rent control on new units, number of evictions, wages and income that are too low relative to high cost of living in Toronto and the lack of available shelter spaces.

In February alone, he said city data shows that an average of 101 people nightly were turned away from the city's shelter system.

Cook said encampments are also appearing in areas where they haven't previously because the city has cleared larger encampments. Clearing displaces people and scatters them away from services, he said.

"When you clear large encampments, people are just going to be more isolated and more spread out," he said.

According to the city's own data, 10,241 people used the city's shelter system last Thursday and there were 11,721 "actively homeless" people in Toronto in the last three months.