Statement on the City’s Encampment Response at Dufferin Grove Park

This is an ongoing and fluid situation which my office is carefully monitoring. My responsibilities as the City Councillor for Davenport are to balance the needs of all park users, including people who use the park for recreation and those who are staying in an encampment. 

For over a year, my team and I have been working with City of Toronto staff and with community members. We hosted three public community meetings on the City’s encampment response with presentations and updates from City staff, as well as a fourth community meeting specifically on recreational programming in Dufferin Grove. 

There has been an active encampment at Dufferin Grove since last spring, for a total of 489 days. The City of Toronto’s municipal bylaws do not permit overnight camping in parks or on roadways. However, the City’s response to outdoor encampments must follow the Interdivisional Protocol for Encampments (IDP) adopted by City Council after an investigation into the 2021 encampments clearings that relied on force. This is no longer the City’s approach. 

Now the City’s Encampment Office and Toronto Shelter and Support Services division lead the City’s encampment response and implementation of the IDP. This is a human rights-informed approach to resolve outdoor encampments through outreach and connections to shelter, housing, and other supports. It is focussed on working towards permanent solutions for people who are living outside, and is an approach that I have advocated for and support. 

Results from the Enhanced Outreach Model 

In early 2025, the City’s Encampment Office prioritized Dufferin Grove for the Enhanced Outreach Model. The model has been in place at Dufferin Grove for 227 days, and includes:

• Daily visits and engagement from the City’s outreach staff to work with encampment residents on shelter and housing plans
• Referrals to indoor spaces that meet a range of individuals’ needs, including shelter hotel spaces, pet-friendly spaces, couple-accommodating and accessible shelter spaces, and supportive and affordable housing units, as available 
• On-site services including ID clinics, employment assistance, primary and mental health care supports, and fire safety education 
• Dedicated on-site security to respond to new encampments

Since the launch of the Enhanced Outreach Model at Dufferin Grove on February 1, City of Toronto staff and partners have:

• Connected 56 people to indoor shelter spaces  
• Assisted 9 people to secure permanent affordable housing 
• Prevented 116 new encampments from occurring in the park (including by providing shelter and service referrals)

The encampment response work at Dufferin Grove was made possible by staff who have done extensive outreach and support, including staff from Parks and Recreation, Municipal Licensing and Standards, and Toronto Employment and Social Services. Many partners have also come together to ensure the safety of both people living in the encampment and nearby residents, including Inner City Health Associates, LOFT Community Services (who provide mental health care support), Toronto Fire Services staff, first responders, and Community Safety Teams. 

Encampment response processes under the Interdivisional Protocol for Encampments 

Beginning last week, City staff initiated a resolution as part of their encampment response work in Dufferin Grove including distribution of notices. City staff reported that there were nine people with 13 structures remaining in the park who have declined multiple offers of help and services offered by the City. Under the IDP, after an individual has been offered extensive supports that meet their needs but continues to decline services, City staff can issue a trespass notice and pursue phased enforcement. This approach is documented in the IDP in detail and is available here. City staff are on-site to provide anyone leaving the encampment with an offer of an indoor shelter space, as well as safe storage of personal belongings. 

As set out in the IDP, decisions about enforcement are made by City staff, through the Encampment Steering Committee (City Councillors do not sit on this Committee). City staff have confirmed that the approach they are using in Dufferin Grove is the same one that has been used to resolve other long-term encampments that had the Enhanced Outreach Model, including at Allan Gardens and Clarence Square. 

In the coming days, City staff from the Encampment Office and Parks and Recreation will be on-site to remove debris, abandoned items, and to clean up any turf areas. An Encampment Prevention Plan will be in place for the next 30 days, with on-site security and Community Safety Teams present, as well as City outreach workers to refer people who may arrive to shelter spaces and services. At the end of 30 days, City staff will review what supports are still required.

Addressing shelter and housing needs in our city 

Toronto is in an affordable housing crisis. Data from the latest Street Needs Assessment found that over 15,000 people are experiencing homelessness on a given night, and between 300 and 500 people are living in outdoor encampments in our city. Our shelter system, which has increased by 60 percent since 2021, provides emergency accommodations to up to 10,000 people each day. At the same time, there are approx. 100,000 households on the waiting list for rent-geared-to-income social housing, and only about 3,000 units become available each year. 

In my roles as Chair of Toronto’s Economic and Community Development Committee and as a TTC Board Member, I have been working to address the complex challenges related to our shelter and housing crisis by: 

• Advancing the City’s Homelessness Services Capital Infrastructure Strategy and the creation of up to 1,600 new spaces in shelters that are purposefully designed to meet residents’ needs
• Securing additional funding for 24-hour indoor respite spaces and day-time drop-in programs that provide food, health care, showers, laundry, and social and recreational activities for people who are unhoused  
• Welcoming Covenant House as the operator for our new youth shelter at 1615 Dufferin, and working with neighbours on community engagement and shelter design 
• Calling on our Federal Government, through press conferences, meetings, and by writing directly to our local Member of Parliament, to reverse the decision to cut shelter funding for refugee claimants (advocacy organization Progress Toronto has launched a petition to the Federal Government, which you can find here) 
• Actively engaging with TTC staff to start developing programs and strategies to address the use of the transit system by people in need of shelter from the elements 
• Exploring options to increase access to emergency services for people in crisis on the transit system 

Nearly all the deeply affordable housing that we have in Toronto, including non-profits and co-ops, was built with funding from the federal and provincial governments. In the 1990s, Ottawa and Queen’s Park abandoned their responsibility to create deeply affordable housing, and virtually no new social housing was built for several decades. These funding cuts – combined with rising rents, increases in evictions, and the Ontario Government’s refusal to adjust social assistance rates – have resulted in the current affordable housing shortage and the significant increase in homelessness. 

Under our current Mayor, the City of Toronto has stepped up its commitment to affordable housing, with 44 projects under construction that will include 7,100 purpose-built rental units, nearly 50 percent of which will be affordable housing. But Toronto can’t solve this problem alone – and it isn’t just our problem. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has reported that 80,000 people are currently homeless across the province; without significant policy interventions, this could increase to 300,000 people in the next decade. Recent decisions by the federal government to cut shelter funding for refugee claimants will only increase the hardship for many. 

We need real, long-term investments in deeply affordable housing, as well as accessible health care and services, well-designed shelter spaces, and supportive housing – and all three levels of government must step up and do their part. I will continue to push for these actions.