I think that it’s clear, based on the number of people who are sheltering in the city of Victoria, and the fact that we know that people move around from place to place, they are not stuck indefinitely in one place, we see populations grow and shrink in parks and on the streets, and we’re gonna need at least three indoor or outdoor locations, based on the knowledge that we have, that you can’t create one big pen and cattle everybody into it.
Dave Thompson, April 18 2024 Committee of the Whole meeting
If there’s one thing everybody in town agrees on, it’s that the current strategy to reduce outdoor sheltering by homeless people isn’t working. As the preceding quote from the April 18 2024 Committee of the Whole meeting attests, it was a predictable consequence of phasing out overnight sheltering in parks while there was insufficient shelter beds to accommodate the homeless population. All it did was concentrate some elements of the unhoused community on Pandora Avenue, while scattering others across Greater Victoria.
Vain enforcement is what got us into this mess to begin with. The municipality wastes millions of dollars every year moving campers to the nearest sidewalk and disposing of survival gear and essential belongings. We have the resources to solve the problem; the current council chose to squander them pursuing impossible compliance instead.
Don’t just take my word for it; look at the staff report delivered on the December 12 2024 Committee of the Whole meeting:
Based on current Bylaw Services resourcing levels, achieving the proposed enforcement model would require the City significantly increasing its front-line Bylaw staffing and related supports by more than double the current levels. The increases would be necessary to provide sufficient site and service day patrol coverage and additional resources focussed on community level rapid response to incidents. It should be noted that enforcement alone will not likely resolve all the issues experienced by the City related to sheltering as it does not impact the driver’s causing
Source: Committee of the Whole report on Enforcing the Legal Prohibition of Daytime Sheltering in Victoria, December 12 2024
homelessness. While there would be some visible improvements in some locations and an increase to the perception of safety, as a tool on its own enforcement is unlikely to end the City’s issues with sheltering without a more comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness. [Emphasis added]
We can turn things around, but it’s going to require a change of attitude. As an advocate with lived experience, allow me to offer a way out of the crisis by making a parallel with the way society treats garbage. No sensible person would call for merely sweeping garbage at random hoping it ends up in neighbouring municipalities. Nor would anyone build fences around town for the purpose of keeping litter out. Proper garbage collection is considered common sense.
In fact, even sending garbage to landfills and incinerators isn’t considered a sustainable solution. Remember the three R’s? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Nowadays we have bylaws phasing out single-use items such as plastic shopping bags, which have largely been replaced with reusable ones. We have laws which guarantee the right to repair electronic devices. We’re all expected to properly sort our garbage for recycling. In fact, garbage literally has value; hardly any refundable container finds its way to landfills anymore.
Unhoused people have to be treated likewise. Society has to prevent homelessness by addressing its causes, as varied as domestic violence, high cost of living, foster care failure, senior abandonment, and low disability assistance rates. It has to offer the homeless a pathway to recovery, with rental assistance, employment programs, and education opportunities. It has to accept that disenfranchised people have value and need vital space. Everybody has to be part of the solution.
Seriously, let’s treat homeless people like we treat garbage. Because that would be a huge improvement over pest control.
Are you ready? Here’s my 10-point plan. I stick to measures which can be implemented at the municipal level by the end of the next council’s term, some of which could be done almost immediately at no cost:
1. Repurpose the sweeps
Every morning, the city deploys a sweep team of five bylaw officers, two police officers, and five cleanup crewmembers to enforce municipal bylaws relevant to outdoor sheltering. In theory, those bylaw officers are supposed to be part of the solution. According to the City of Victoria’s website:
How do Bylaw officers contribute to solutions to homelessness?
City Bylaw officers work directly with organizations like Pacifica Housing, Island Health, Victoria Cool Aid Society, United Gospel Mission and BC Housing, to help connect individuals who are sheltering in the community to access supportive housing and health supports.
Source: City of Victoria
In practice, this is hogwash. Bylaw officers are not outreach workers and do not connect the unhoused with services; at best they hand out a pamphlet, which doesn’t cut it. Moreover, they are most notorious for playing fast and loose with the rules, especially those pertaining to impounding the homeless’ belongings; there have been numerous reports of bylaw officers not abiding by the terms of the Property in Custody bylaw, to the point of being the object of legal action for disposing of essential belongings as rubbish.
While from a personal standpoint I would stop those sweeps altogether, “Stop The Sweeps” is a slogan, not a solution. I concede that municipal workers have to clean up parks and sidewalks, while council members are not to interfere with bylaw enforcement. Nevertheless, those sweeps must fulfill their official mission to connect indigent people with services.
A simple solution would be to replace a couple bylaw officers with outreach workers from nonprofit organizations, and have the latter take the lead. This would achieve two goals: help the homeless get back on their feet, and keep bylaw officers honest. This mission adjustment from enforcement to outreach would be in alignment with the municipality’s current policy and could be implemented rapidly at no cost.
2. Lift overnight sheltering prohibition in parks
This one is a tough sell. Nobody wants the homeless to sleep in parks—starting with the homeless themselves. Yet until we correct the shelter and affordable housing shortage, we have to make a decision: municipal parks or sidewalks and doorways.
The current municipal council has conspired to drive homeless people away from the downtown core toward the periphery, by closing parks to overnight sheltering until only three remained, Oaklands, Pemberton, and Gonzales. It had the opposite effect: since these parks are so far away from services and amenities, hardly anybody suffered these remote locations, and instead concentrated in hot spots such as the 900-block of Pandora Avenue and in front of Rock Bay Landing on Ellice Street.
In fact, the proposal was so unconscionable that Councillor Stephen Hammond of all people, of the Mad As Hell collective which opposed the Victoria courthouse encampment in 2016, couldn’t bring himself to vote for closing Irving Park and Vic West Park to sheltering, fearing legal jeopardy:
Adam Sheffield: “[…] I think the question is which have facilities. And so that would be just Oaklands, Gonzales, and Pemberton.“
Stephen Hammond: “Thanks. And when you say facilities you mean washrooms.“
Adam Sheffield: “Yes.“
Stephen Hammond: “And those parks are pretty far away from the services that a lot of people rely on, if you’re without a home.“
Adam Sheffield: “Yes they are.“
Stephen Hammond: “Thanks very much, Mr. Sheffield. So I also echo the concerns of my colleague who from a legal perspective, if the only ones left are further afield, I don’t think that’s going to pass the legal test.“
Source: April 18 2024 Committee of the Whole meeting
And indeed three unhoused residents of these parks petitioned the BC Supreme Court for judicial review of the bylaw on the grounds that it violated Article 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the petition was ultimately dismissed on a technicality, leaving the room open to a constitutional challenge on the merits.
We have the opportunity to correct the blunder that the court system declined to. A patch of grass is not a home, and camping in municipal parks may lead to temporary loss of enjoyment. On the other hand, the overnight sheltering ban can be lifted almost immediately, at no cost to the municipality, and that would definitely take some pressure off the downtown core.
3. Keep public washrooms open at night
This one is a no brainer.
Lately downtown business owners have been complaining of having to clean up human waste from their doorways on a regular basis.
I’ll let that sink in for a couple seconds.
Still with me? Now what if I tell you that the problem is largely caused by the municipality closing park washrooms at night, in an attempt to deter people from camping at those locations?
And it gets worse: the Centennial Square washrooms have been permanently closed for months. Because hey, the homeless might hang out at the square too.
This is no trifling matter. The aforementioned petition for judicial review of the latest amendments to the Parks Regulation Bylaw dealt in part with the lack of available public washrooms:
[11] In April 2024, a motion was brought before the City’s Committee of the Whole to direct City staff to take steps to close Irving and Victoria West parks to overnight sheltering by way of an amendment to the Parks Regulation Bylaw. At that time, Victoria West and Irving parks were two of five City parks in which overnight sheltering was permitted that had 24-hour washrooms within their boundaries. Victoria West and Irving parks were also the two parks with 24-hour washrooms that were closest to the downtown core—which the parties agree is represented by the intersection of Quadra and Pandora streets. [Emphasis added]
Source: Fox v Victoria (City), 2026 BCSC 1076
Furthermore, our municipal council has refused to provide temporary sanitation on Pandora Avenue to alleviate the problem, and instead begged the provincial government to foot the bill.
Meanwhile, there is an immediate need to provide basic washroom services for folks still resting on the boulevard. In the absence of any alternative facility, housed residents and business owners report frequent incidents of people urinating and defecating in public places and on private property.
Source: Committee of the Whole motion: “Pandora Boulevard Washroom”, December 14 2023
The impact of human waste extends far beyond the mere inconvenience of cleaning it up; it also spreads disease. Last December, a highly contagious shigella infection spread across the unhoused community, just one month after the municipality pleaded in court that providing washrooms to homeless people wasn’t part of its mandate. Public sanitation, to prevent the spread of disease, has been a pillar of human civilization since ancient times; for a local government to neglect this most elementary function in modern times is flagrant dereliction of duty.
Keeping public washrooms open overnight would only require a policy change; it could be done immediately at no cost. As for temporary washrooms on Pandora Avenue for people with limited mobility, these could be set up quickly at reasonable expense, and the benefits would definitely outweigh the price tag.
4. More shelter space
Much of the current predicament revolves around chronic lack of overnight shelter space. Otherwise there would be far fewer people sleeping on sidewalks, in doorways, or in parks; this would also alleviate the lack of publicly available washrooms.
One common misconception is indeed that there are ample overnight shelter mats and the unhoused simply refuse them. Perhaps the impression stems from multiple announcements of additional shelter space in recent years. The reality is that shelters are few and chronically operating at capacity, while the closure of overnight shelters doesn’t get nearly as much publicity as openings. Also, it’s worth making the distinction between overnight shelters, which are open all year long, and emergency shelters, which only open during extreme weather events.
The 2025 Point-in-Time count reported at least 1749 homeless people in the Greater Victoria Area, 750 of which lived in transitional shelters and 419 in emergency shelters. 318 respondents were in contrast unsheltered, and this last figure was probably an undercount; there could be twice as many for all we know. As long as the shortage remains this acute, there will be hundreds of people camping outside or sleeping rough in the downtown core.
While overnight shelters are more expensive to operate than the previous solutions, they remain affordable, especially compared to how much the municipality spends on vain enforcement. In my estimate, if those $4.7M wasted on the enforcement surge were reallocated to opening additional overnight shelter space, we could move everybody in the downtown core indoors with funds left over.
Allow me to expand on the calculation: at about $2165 a night, the yearly cost to shelter 40 guests would be about $790,000. Six of these would cost $4.74M and provide 240 mats, plenty enough to welcome the roughly 75 people who sleep on Pandora Avenue and two dozens who camp in front of Rock Bay Landing on Ellice Street. Moreover, it is unlikely that the municipality would have to foot the entire bill, as BC Housing already provides funding for emergency weather shelters and the proposal could also attract private donors.
5. Honorarium programs
Nobody likes litter, broken pipes, and dirty needles, and few people want to take on the task of collecting them, because that’s among the dirtiest jobs out there. That’s why downtown businesses are often reduced to calling the DVBA Clean Team—or picking them up themselves.
Seriously, who wants to do this chore? especially as a low-wage, part time job?
Homeless people, that’s who. Who’s better at picking up after the unhoused than the street community itself. And you know what? Homeless folks will do it for less than minimum wage.
And it’s not just a matter of cleaning up garbage; it also empowers homeless people, with experience and extra income which help them get their act together. Instead of being treated like the problem, these volunteers become part of the solution.
Having the street community involved in the clean-up on the 900 block has many benefits. When the street community is actively participating in the clean-up of the space, it changes the dynamic. Other members of the street community on Pandora are more likely to support the cleanliness of the space when they see their peers doing the clean-up. When the cleanliness of the block is maintained within the community living on Pandora, there is less need for outside resources to attend to clean-up.
Jordan Cooper, Our Place Society, Director of Services
We need more initiatives like this one, and we need them on a larger scale. Such programs can be implemented rapidly, and the cost to the taxpayer is negligible compared to the benefits.
6. Fund community drop-ins
The homeless’ predicament isn’t limited to where to spend the night, but also where to spend the day. Overnight shelters typically open at 8PM and close at 6AM. The rest of the time, the unsheltered hang out at a rare few welcoming indoor spaces, like of course Our Place Society’s drop in on Pandora Avenue or the Greater Victoria Public Library’s Central Branch on Broughton Street.
But these spaces have limited capacity. Hundreds of unsheltered people are reduced to loitering in town all day, irrespective of the weather, for lack of a place to go. That’s why so many hang out on Douglas Street or Centennial Square for example. And we all know that leads to frequent tensions.
It doesn’t have to be this way. For example, the Cool Aid Society’s Downtown Community Centre on the 700-block of Pandora Avenue has recently been renovated at the cost of $700,000 yet it nowadays sits empty due to lack of operational funding. The DCC used to provide useful services to the community, like drop-in classes, vocational programming, community meals, and computer and internet access, and that space is going to waste. Likewise, Rock Bay Landing has closed its drop-in to nonresidents, which contributes to the large number of people hanging out on Ellice Street.
Of course we could just blame BC Housing for not paying the millions it owes to housing providers, but that doesn’t solve the problem. Or we could have the municipality partially bridge the deficit. This much we could do immediately, at relatively low cost, and it would keep dozens of unhoused people off the streets during daytime while providing essential services helping them back on their feet.
7. Welcome back tiny homes
This may be the most contentious measure on this list, and yet the most damning policy failure of our municipal council.
For years there used to be a village of 30 tiny homes made out of refurbished containers, formerly called Tiny Town then renamed Caledonia Village, on a vacant parking lot on Caledonia Avenue. The transitional sheltering facility, which opened in 2021, briefly closed under pressure from neighbours exasperated by criminality, only to reopen within months after BC Housing injected funds into the project, and finally closed in February 2026; the dismantled facility was relocated to New Westminster. In contrast to the official statement, multiple insider sources report that the remaining residents were evicted to the streets rather than being relocated to housing or other transitional shelters.
The municipality’s inconsistent rationale is most perplexing. If nothing else, it is difficult to justify the closure of shelter space amidst an acute shortage. The council cited crime as a factor for shutting it down the first time, but that didn’t seem to be an issue anymore when provincial funding came merely four months later. The mayor sent a letter to neighbouring municipalities in 2024 requesting that they take over the initiative, seemingly under the delusion that homelessness would magically follow tiny homes if these were relocated; in any case no other municipality accepted. And while keeping the facility open past deadline might have run afoul of statutory requirements for permit extensions, rezoning was nevertheless an option; instead the sparsely used parking lot goes to waste.
The project was the object of acerbic critique by certain neighbours complaining of brazen criminality at the time, and while I wouldn’t make light of their predicament, I do presume to challenge the narrative. Such reports are common throughout the neighbourhoods surrounding the downtown core, and persist in North Park to this day despite Caledonia Village’s closure. The Victoria Police Department’s publicly available Crime Maps clearly show a multitude of documented incidents in the past month. Furthermore, VicPD’s data shows no correlation between the site and criminality, instead reporting a decline in the number of incidents before the facility temporarily closed in October 2023. We don’t hear about crime in the neighbourhood anymore simply because there is no longer a scapegoat.
Annual calls for service to the 30-unit community dubbed Tiny Town — which opened in April 2021 on the Royal Athletic Park parking lot — and the immediate area around it dropped from 592 calls in 2021 to 422 in 2022 and 382 in 2023.
Source: Times Colonist
In hindsight, getting rid of those tiny homes was a terrible blunder, especially since at the latter stage it operated at negligible cost to the municipality. This is yet another example in which solutions exist; our municipal council simply has to stop saying no—or worse, get rid of the solution altogether.
8. More supportive housing
Many unhoused people spend years in transitional shelters waiting for their turn into supportive housing due to acute shortage of supportive housing units. I’ve even seen many drop out altogether during my stay at MyPlace 2.0 on Yates Street due to deteriorating mental health after lingering this long in an environment lacking vital space and privacy.
I’m tempted to say we could nevertheless use more transitional shelters like the newly opened Bridge Street Pathways Shelter, but there’s little point in building more of those if the pipeline is already congested. In the end, people need homes, not shelters, so we might as well invest in the former over the latter.
Supportive housing is indeed essential for many people who have experienced homelessness, if only as a step up the ladder to affordable housing or even market rental. Some residents may even require lifelong support due to significant physical and mental health challenges, even if they are otherwise fit for independent living. They are therefore a vital link in the path to recovery.
9. Sanctioned encampment
Faced with such an acute shortage of affordable housing, municipalities are faced with difficult decisions when it comes to finding space for unsheltered residents. The problem with park encampments, for example, is that they tend to grow anarchically like the Victoria courthouse encampment in 2016. While initially the court sided with the respondents, a later court decision declared the encampment no longer safe and ordered it dismantled.
The solution to such a predicament is to set up a sanctioned encampment instead. One was established rapidly at the former site of Caledonia Village following the flooding of an unsanctioned park encampment. Another was at CRAB park, at which the City of Vancouver carried a makeover following a human rights complaint filed by residents over unsanitary conditions.
While an apartment complex takes significant time to build, finding a site to pitch tents and providing temporary amenities can be carried out even in an emergency such as disaster relief. Of course we already have the ideal site: the former site of Caledonia Village. Another option, to grant tax relief for certain properties in return for hosting such an encampment, was proposed by Mayor Marianne Alto in August 2024; while it was a tepid proposal, it’s still a shame that the council voted it down against all reason, especially considering that the cost to the municipality would have once again been negligible.
10. You
Yes, I mean you, housed residents of this city. You have to be part of the solution.
The unhoused community is ready to work with you. We advocates and outreach workers are eager to work with you. But it has to be reciprocal: the rest of you have to be willing to work with us as well.
As an advocate, my role isn’t to tell you to pity my clients; I get it, many of you don’t care. My role is to tell you that their problems are your problems. I challenge anyone who dares disagree how they feel about the homeless camping on sidewalks, shoplifting for survival gear, or defecating in businesses’ doorways.
We can do this together. All we need is sound public policy and a good neighbour agreement. Years of having the MyPlace 2.0 transitional shelter next to a school with scarcely a complaint shows that if service providers and neighbours partner together, anything is possible. Then everybody wins; we find shelter and homes for the unhoused, clean up the downtown core, eliminate public disorder, and even save taxpayer money in the long run. The alternative is four more years of the current fiasco.
Make your decision at the ballot box on October 17.
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