City of Toronto to begin removal of Kensington Market encampment

The City of Toronto says it will begin to clear out an encampment in Kensington Market on Friday morning due to it being an “immediate public safety risk.”

Russell Baker, a spokesperson for the city, said servicing the encampment, located at 103 Bellevue Ave., is a “tool of last resort.”

“We must address the accumulation of combustible and hoarded materials on site, posing substantial risk to both those encamped there and those in the surrounding area, including the church located at this address,” Baker said in a statement.

The encampment is located on Bellevue Avenue near College Street, right outside of the St. Stephen-In-The-Fields Anglican Church on what the city calls a “city-owned right-of-way.”

According to Baker, approximately eight people remain at the encampment, and they were given notice of the city’s “planned work” on Nov. 21.

Baker says shelter spaces have been offered to all of the people encamped at the site and they will receive information about next steps later today.

The city says there have already been three fires at this encampment in the past 10 months, with the most recent fire occurring this month.

“Through regular visits by Toronto Fire Services, it has been determined that the encampment poses a significant fire risk due to a number of factors including the dense accumulation of combustible material and an excess of hoarded materials,” reads the statement from the city.

Toronto police have not yet been called in.

On Friday morning, dozens of homeless advocates were at the site.

Andrew Neelands, a longtime volunteer with St. Stephen-In-The-Fields, told Global News he’s concerned about where people living at the site will go.

“I have absolutely no idea where they will go. And that is terrifying to me because the next time I see them, it might be in the newspaper, or it might be in an obituary,” said Neelands.

The city says shelter spaces have been offered to all of the people encamped at the site and they will receive information about next steps later today.

“I think very few of the people that are here have stayed the whole time. A lot of people have come and gone. Some have made some amazing progress. Some have made major recovery in addiction,” said Neelands.

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Residents in the area voiced their concerns about the encampment being directly across from a Montessori school earlier this year.

In June, Liz Bovey, owner of Westside Montessori School, which educates children aged 18 months to nine years old, alleged over the past year, students, their parents and her staff faced harassment from those living in the nearby encampment.

“Encampment members have thrown garbage at the children who are coming to school with their parents. (Students and parents have) been sworn at, they’ve been yelled at, they’ve been threatened,” she told Global News.

“We’ve had a staff member who was chased. She headed to the fire station across the street.”

Bovey says as a result, she’s had to move children inside at times.

Dianne Saxe, the councillor for the area, said at the time she was working with staff at the church and the school to find a solution.

She underlined the need to prioritize both those who remain homeless as well as safety in the community.

“We (also) have a duty to the people who live here, to the kids that go to school here, young people who rent apartments here, to keep the city safe,” Saxe said.

— With files from Brittany Rosen, Global News.